However, there would be nothing to stop the minister simply tuning into the live-stream.
Dr Reti declined an invitation to the rally at the Dunedin Town Hall — organised to call for the southern hospital to be built once and built right — and Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich said the minister could have benefited a lot had he been able to come.
‘‘He would have gained both hard facts and public perspectives that are important to inform the decisions he must soon make.’’
Mr Radich said the minister’s non-attendance was disappointing, but unsurprising.
‘‘Here we are seven years along the track with this project and the key decision-maker is unable to find the time to listen to our point of view — even though the hospital is for us, the people of the South.’’
A spokeswoman for Dr Reti said he had Cabinet responsibilities on Mondays.
The minister had ‘‘valued’’ talking to the mayor about the hospital build several times, she said.
In a note to the council about not being able to attend the rally, Dr Reti said he recognised the passion of Dunedin and the South on the subject.
‘‘Our government is committed to building a new hospital in Dunedin,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ve significantly increased funding for this vitally important work — $290 million this year, specifically for the inpatient build.
‘‘We all want to deliver on long-overdue solutions for health infrastructure.’’
The rally at the town hall comes about seven weeks after a huge public march in the city about cuts to the hospital project and broken promises from the government.
The government is looking at options for how it can keep the project within a $1.88 billion budget amid cost blowouts.
Former project leader Pete Hodgson, who will be part of a panel of speakers, said last month the latest information was a credible hospital could not be built for that sum.
Other speakers will include senior clinician Sheila Barnett, New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation delegate Linda Smillie and retired surgeon Mike Hunter.
