PM Chris Hipkins questioned on Michael Wood, rules out snap election

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said former minister Michael Wood seemed to have “a bit of a blind spot” on failing to declare the shareholdings that led to his resignation.

Speaking to reporters after announcing that Labour had built more than 12,000 additional public homes since it was first elected in 2017, Hipkins restated he wasn’t clear that Wood had recused himself from all decisions he needed to relating to the shares he held

Hipkins said he hadn’t spoken to Wood since yesterday’s press conference. “I’m giving him the courtesy of giving him a little bit of space.”

Regarding declaring interests, Hipkins had advised Wood that he needed to clean up that aspect of his job.

He said it seemed to have been “a bit of a blind spot” for Wood.

On restricting ministers holding shares, Hipkins said changes to the Cabinet Manual are made over a period of time and wasn’t a partisan process. The Opposition would be consulted if that would happen. He was heartened that National leader Christopher Luxon had indicated his support for change.

There had been no other Cabinet decisions made including Wood that had been raised with Hipkins where there were any potential issues.

Asked about Kelvin Davis’ speech in Parliament following yesterday’s Oranga Tamariki scandal involving serious allegations of sexual misconduct by staff - Davis referred to Luxon as ‘Mr Tesla’, prompting an angry response from Opposition MPs - Hipkins said he understood Davis had accepted his tone was not right and that the scandal was something the Government took seriously.

Hipkins said Davis was being subjected to interjections which may have informed his tone.

Hipkins said it wasn’t clear whether the scandal was an isolated incident or a broader pattern of behaviour and it was up to former police commissioner Mike Bush, who is leading the investigation, to assess whether it was a systemic problem within OT.

He said the young people in youth justice residences were often “badly damaged” and that it was a very tough job for staff but he acknowledged the kids had been let down in this case.

Hipkins thought Kelvin Davis had done a great job as Minister for Children but said the children had been let down by the state over many decades so improvements were necessary.

Asked if he was confident he wasn’t going to lose another minister, Hipkins said he would deal with issues as they come up but he was confident ministers knew his expectations.

“There’ll be an election on October 14,” Hipkins said, ruling out a snap election.

Asked if he spoke with Jacinda Ardern about matters including Michael Wood, Hipkins said it was raised on occasion.

He said he had called her to ask what she knew about certain situations such as Wood’s shares and matters relating to former minister Stuart Nash who was sacked after breaches of the Cabinet Manual.

Hipkins said he had called her because he often faced questions from the media about what Ardern had known about issues that began under her leadership.

Earlier today

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will face further questions on the actions of resigned minister Michael Wood as the Herald reveals the Mt Roskill MP had 16 interactions with the Cabinet Office over his Auckland Airport shares, four more than was previously known.

Hipkins yesterday called an unexpected press conference to announce Wood had resigned as a cabinet minister, giving up his portfolios as Minister for Auckland, Transport, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Associate Finance.

Hipkins said Wood had told him on Tuesday that he held thousands of dollars worth of additional shares in a trust he was a trustee of. The shares were in Chorus, Spark and the National Australia Bank.

Those shareholdings raised problematic questions around potential conflicts, such as decisions made by Cabinet relating to the market study into banks announced on Tuesday, and immigration decisions regarding telecommunications workers.

There is no evidence Wood acted inappropriately in the conflict of interest, something Hipkins said he was confident in.

Wood had already been under review following the revelation by the Herald that he owned shares in Auckland Airport during a time when he was responsible for the aviation sector.

Hipkins recently admitted in the House that Wood had been asked by the Cabinet Office a dozen times to sell the shares but the Herald reported this morning the true number was 16, including one in March 2021 in which the Cabinet Office sent Wood a draft review of Ministers’ interests intended for then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirming the shares had been sold.

Neither the Cabinet Office nor Wood could confirm whether the minister or his office ever responded to that email confirming the statement or correcting the record to say the shares had not in fact been sold.

It appears the Cabinet Office continued to think the shares had been.

On June 30, 2021, Wood’s office told the Cabinet Office his sharebroker had been instructed to sell the shares. The Cabinet Office appeared to believe the shares had been sold because days later, on July 5, 2021, the office sent Wood a letter relating to its annual review including a line which read, “Mr Wood has divested himself of shares in Auckland Airport”.

Michael Wood has resigned as a Cabinet Minister. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Earlier this month, Wood said he only began the process of selling the shares “last year”. Wood and Hipkins did not respond to questions relating to that correspondence.

The timeline comes from an answer to more than 100 Written Parliamentary Questions to Hipkins lodged by the National Party.

Wood’s Workplace Relations and Auckland portfolios were given to Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni, Andrew Little was given Immigration, David Parker got Transport, and Kiri Allan was given Associate Finance. The Government will now limp to the election with 19 Cabinet ministers after Hipkins decided he would not elevate a new MP into Cabinet to replace Wood.

In a brief statement yesterday, Wood apologised to Hipkins and the public.

He described himself as a “true believer in politics” and that there hadn’t been a “second of my political career where any of my financial interests have influenced my actions or even crossed my mind”.

Wood said he would be taking “some personal time” before returning to work as the MP for Mt Roskill and would not be making any further statements.

Hipkins will be speaking from the Epuni public housing development in Lower Hutt alongside Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods and local MP Ginny Andersen.

He is expected to speak about the Government’s provision of more than 12,000 additional public homes since October, 2017. Almost 10,000 of those were new-builds.

A statement from Hipkins said the Government was on track to deliver more than 18,000 new public and transitional housing places by 2024.