Minister faces shares inquiry
Michael Wood, the suspended Minister of Transport, will face an inquiry over his failure to properly declare the shares he holds in Auckland Airport.
The investigation was announced on June 8 and will be conducted by Sir Maarten Wevers, parliament’s registrar of pecuniary interests.
It follows a letter to the registrar from National MP Chris Penk asking for an inquiry into whether Wood “complied with his obligations to declare certain interests”.
Sir Maarten says in a statement that he has conducted a preliminary review of Penk’s request and notes Wood has made a number of public statements about the need to amend previous returns under the register.
His review also “took account of the degree of importance of the matter under inquiry; whether the matter may involve a breach of the obligations to make a return; and whether the matter is technical or trivial”.
“Having conducted a preliminary review of the request, the registrar has determined that an inquiry is warranted and will be undertaken,” the statement adds.
Wood, pictured, has been stood down from the transport portfolio by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins for failing to properly declare his shareholding in Auckland Airport, which is worth about $13,000.
It has also emerged the minister was approached 12 times by the Cabinet Office between November 2020 and March 2023 about whether he had divested himself of the shares, reports Stuff.
Wood says he is now fixing his mistakes of not declaring the shares in the MPs’ pecuniary interests register and failing to complete their sale last year.
The National Party and Act are calling for Wood to be sacked from Cabinet over the controversy.
