Parker new Minister of Transport

David Parker has been appointed the new Minister of Transport following Michael Wood’s resignation from cabinet.

Parker, pictured left, will combine the transport duties with his roles as Attorney-General and holding the environment and revenue portfolios. He is also an Associate Minister of Finance.

Wood, pictured right, had already been stood down from the transport portfolio by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins pending an inquiry over his failure to properly declare to parliament a shareholding he had in Auckland Airport.

Hipkins says he was alerted on June 20 to additional shares held by Wood in the JM Fairey Family Trust, of which the MP is a trustee and beneficiary, that raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. 

Wood, who had been Minister of Transport since November 2020, resigned as a minister the next day but will remain Labour’s MP for Mt Roskill.

“Despite repeated requests from the Cabinet Office and myself for Michael to manage his shareholdings, he has repeatedly failed to identify, disclose and appropriately manage conflicts of interest,” explains Hipkins.

“When I stood Michael down as Minister of Transport, I asked him if there was any other relevant information I should know about and he indicated there was not.   

“It has become evident, therefore, that not adequately managing the airport shares was not an isolated incident and it is not appropriate for Michael to continue as a minister.”

Hipkins adds he does not believe Wood has acted with any intent of personal gain, but his actions have let himself and the government down.

“He is a talented and hard-working minister. However, he has shown a serious lapse of judgment and has taken the appropriate action by resigning.”

Wood’s other portfolios have also been reallocated. Carmel Sepuloni becomes Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and Minister for Auckland, Andrew Little takes on Minister of Immigration duties, while Kiri Allan will pick up his Associate Minister of Finance position.