Simeon Brown was announced as former health minister Shane Reti’s replacement in Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s Cabinet reshuffle on Sunday.
Mr Brown also gained the portfolios of Minister of Auckland and Minister for State Owned Enterprises.
It comes as the South still waits for a decision on the new Dunedin hospital project, several months after Dr Reti and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop visited Dunedin to announce the government would not proceed with the hospital it had promised southerners.
Instead, it would investigate either building a scaled-back version at the former Cadbury’s site or retrofitting the existing Dunedin Hospital.
Yesterday, the ODT approached Mr Brown for an interview.
A spokesman for Mr Brown said the incoming minister of health was "receiving briefings from officials and stakeholders over the coming days and weeks".
"He will have more to say on the new Dunedin hospital, and other issues across the health portfolio, following his formal appointment as minister of health this Friday."
However, Mr Brown found time earlier in the day to speak to RNZ and Newstalk ZB.
Mr Brown told RNZ the government was very committed to a new hospital and he would be working very closely with Mr Bishop on it.
Mr Brown would not respond yesterday to the ODT’s questions about what the timeframes were for the new Dunedin hospital project, and whether the project as presented in the business case was still viable.
University of Otago political commentator Michael Swanson said people should expect Mr Brown to be a lot more "direct" than his predecessor once he assumed the role.
"I think you will see a lot more clarity with Mr Brown."
