Last month, the government released the business case that was used to justify its decision to continue with the new medical school in Hamilton.
The new school will have a rural focus, and the government will now pour $83m into the new Hamilton-based school and Waikato University will have to find more than $150m for its contribution.
Correspondence released under the Official Information Act between Otago University vice-chancellor Grant Robertson and Universities Minister Dr Shane Reti suggested tension existed even over the timeframes of the business case.
On November 29, Mr Robertson said: "We are concerned at the piecemeal way in which information is being requested from us in the preparation of the business case for the third medical school proposal.
"We are receiving some requests from your Health officials and others from Sapere — Today’s communication from Sapere for example asks for information, noting that the draft business case and CBA [Cost Benefit Analysis] are going to Gateway Review on Monday 2nd of December, i.e. next week.
"It is absurd to be asked for information on that timeline."
Mr Robertson told Dr Reti in the email he "felt cynical" about the process.
"We are given one day to respond to be included in a critical element of that process.
"When, in the future, I read about the result of the Gateway Review, it will be in the knowledge that not all the information to inform the review was included."
Mr Robertson said it was worth noting that three of the four options being considered involved Otago and Auckland Universities.
"If these options are to be assessed fairly alongside the Waikato proposal, we believe that we need to have more comprehensive and co-ordinated discussions with those preparing the papers."
Green MP Francisco Hernandez said the tone of the emails was revealing.
"The incredibly short, piecemeal, scatter-gun approach to asking for information confirms what we’ve said from the start: that the government deliberately railroaded the process and cherry-picked information to get the outcome it wanted."
In response to Mr Robertson’s concerns, Dr Reti sent a letter.
He said while officials had regularly met Auckland University representatives as part of a forum, Otago was "yet to take up the offer".
Dr Reti also said Sapere officials had met Otago’s dean of the medical school Prof Tim Wilkinson.
"I strongly encourage you and your team take up the opportunity to input into this process to ensure the University of Otago’s position is accurately represented within the programme of work."
Mr Hernandez said Dr Reti’s response was "unnecessarily dismissive".
"If they were truly engaging in good faith, the government would have opened a proper tender process from the start."
