Prime Minister Chris Hipkins made the revelation while facing questions from Acting National Leader Nicola Willis in the House of Representatives today. On Tuesday, Hipkins told the media that Wood had been warned “half a dozen” times.
The government faced questions in the House of Representatives National and Act over its handling of the Michael Wood saga.
Hipkins told parliament: “19 November 2020; December 9 and 14, 2020; March 24, 2021; June 30, 2021; December 17, 2021; March 1, 2022; March 28, 2022; May 4, 2022; January 16, 2023; On March 6, 2023 and March 27, 2023, the Cabinet tried to confirm whether [Michael Wood] got rid of shares. Throughout the process [Wood] has confirmed that he is going to or is in the process of divesting shares.”
“According to my calculations, there were 12 interactions [where the Cabinet Office asked Wood to divest the shares]” Hipkins said.
“I think, as I mentioned yesterday [Wood] should have sold the stock when he first said he was going to do it.”
Asked by Willis why Wood had remained in Cabinet, Hipkins said: “I made the point that I did not think that Minister Wood had lived up to expectations and that is why he was removed as Transport Minister.
Asked by Willis if he would open an investigation into Wood’s actions, Hipkins replied; “I do not believe that there is a need to conduct an investigation on this matter, because the facts are obvious and not disputed.”
Hipkins told parliament he was “somewhat disappointed” he had not been told earlier about Wood’s stake.
Both National and Act are calling for Wood to go. Nationals leader Christopher Luxon wants Wood to be relieved of his remaining portfolios and removed from cabinet.
After further revelations published in The New Zealand Herald Act leader David Seymour also called for Wood to leave this morning.
Wood was suspended as a minister on Tuesday over his handling of Auckland Airport shares.
The stock was only worth $13,000, but it was Wood’s decision to tell the Cabinet that he would sell the stock, but never followed through, that landed him in the hot seat.
“One of the challenges is that the Cabinet of Ministers received advice [Wood] in several cases where he himself disposed of shares, this clearly did not happen. It’s a pretty significant problem,” Hipkins said.
Wood has been fired while he works to properly disclose the stock and eventually sell it.
He has a path back to the Cabinet once he works out the register of pecuniary interests to properly disclose his past stock ownership.
Luxon told TVNZ Breakfast the Wood issue was a case of “another week, another ministerial scandal in a Labor government, another week talking about why people don’t feel safe in their homes, why our children aren’t going to school and the cost of living”.
He said it was “a huge distraction at a time when New Zealanders really want the government to focus on the things that matter to them”.
Luxon called Hipkins’ leadership “weak” and said “the wheels of the party are falling off.”
Seymour said the news that Wood was involved in the rejection of the North Shore Airport Authority status application meant he could no longer be a minister.
“The question of Wood being a minister is no longer a question of ‘administrator for life’, as Chris Hipkins put it. The question now is whether people can trust the New Zealand government to be open and transparent about who it serves,” he said.
Source link – https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/wood-warned-12-times-sell-airport-shares