In an unexpected plot twist, it’s now been revealed embattled minister Michael Wood was actually asked to get rid of his shares in Auckland Airport 12 times.

Yesterday, prime minister Chris Hipkins said he believed Wood was asked to divest his shares on about half a dozen occasions – though today he updated (doubled) this under questioning from National’s Nicola Willis.

Speaking in parliament, Hipkins said the cabinet office had reviewed the record and found a number of occasions dating back to late 2020 in which Wood was asked to divest his shares. “By my count there were 12 interactions,” said Hipkins. “I think he should have divested the shares when he first said he was going to do so.”

It’s now known Wood was approached a dozen times dating from December 2020, shortly after the general election, through until March this year. “I have indicated that I don’t think minister Wood has not met the relevant expectations and that is why he has been stood down as minister of transport,” Hipkins said.

Wood had been approached both in person and in writing over those 12 times, said Hipkins, and this correspondence was subject to the Official Information Act.

Following interrogation from Nicola Willis, many of the Act Party’s MPs in turn took the opportunity to ask variations of a question attempting to raise doubt about the transparency and trustworthiness of ministers.

Chris Hipkins has met with his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka in Wellington, offering financial support to the Pacific nation as it addresses the impacts of climate change.

In a statement, Hipkins said he had an “inspired discussion” with Rabuka on how our two countries can further cooperate to combat climate change. “It’s clear it remains the single greatest threat to lives and livelihoods in the Pacific region,” said Hipkins.

“Many New Zealanders have experienced first hand through Cyclone Gabrielle the devastation it causes communities, and this additional funding will assist Fiji to deliver community-based climate adaptation and mitigation projects.”

The government has announced $11.1 million will help Fiji as it responds to climate-related issues. “This additional funding from New Zealand is very welcome,” said Rabuka. “It will support Fiji to implement discrete projects in renewable energy, infrastructure resilience, climate policy, and capacity strengthening.”

National’s unveiled a new election year policy dubbed “infrastructure for the future”, which the party said will address the country’s “yawning” infrastructure deficit.

It includes a new National Infrastructure Agency that would help coordinate government funding and improve delivery, new partnership deals between the government and local councils to create longer term projects, and a fast-track consent system modelled on the Covid recovery legislation aimed at quickly processing resource consents.

“The new National Infrastructure Agency will be made up of infrastructure funding and financing experts, as well as economic and legal experts,” said a policy document. “It will take an inter-generational, long-term approach to infrastructure
funding and investment in New Zealand.”

The fast-track consenting scheme would “build on” the temporary process introduced by the government during the Covid pandemic, meaning resource consents for infrastructure projects could be pushed through without needing to use the “lengthy and expensive” Resource Management Act.

Chris Bishop, National’s infrastructure spokesperson, said the party’s plan would encourage investment and set out a 30-year infrastructure pipeline.

“The last National government delivered New Zealand’s ultra-fast broadband network, built high-quality expressways, electrified the Auckland rail network, and started the City Rail Link,” said Bishop. “Meanwhile, Labour has spent six years focusing on vanity projects which have gone nowhere. Labour has done little more than cut ribbons on projects commissioned, consented and funded by National.”

Duncan Greive has a story on The Spinoff this morning on the awards designed to recognise the service of frontline workers during the pandemic. A year on from the announcement of the awards, hundreds of seemingly eligible people and organisations have been turned down, while around 50,000 awards remain unclaimed. Greive spoke to Terry Taylor, the president of the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science (NZIMLS), whose members handled the testing for Covid, putting in thousands of hours with no financial compensation.

Taylor read the reports about the awards and felt pleased that the work of the NZIMLS would be recognised. He then received an email saying “Unfortunately your organisation’s application has been unsuccessful.”

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Primary teachers have accepted the latest collective agreement put forward by the education ministry – the fourth offer proposed following lengthy negotiations and strike action.

In a statement, the head of the education union NZEI, Mark Potter, said the new agreement included significant wins for teachers.

“The biggest win was the more than doubling of classroom release time –  the first increase since 2005. The work demands on teachers have sky-rocketed in the last couple of decades and this means teachers will have more time to plan, assess and do individual work with students,” said Potter, who also welcomed the move in the cap on reliever teacher pay rates.

“This is a step toward paying experienced relief teachers fairly and should make it easier for schools to find relievers.”

The deal also includes a lump sum payment of $3,000, to be paid in July, plus an additional $1,500 for union members. Teachers will also get a 6% pay rise in July, with two further increases in 2024.

Increases in the Māori Immersion Teacher Allowance, and the introduction of a “cultural allowance” for kaiako, were labelled “historic”.

Potter said that the union would continue to push forward on the issues of teacher pay, parity of remuneration for leadership and specialist roles, and improvement in staffing ratios. “I am very proud of the collective action teacher members have shown over the past year and I also want to thank parents and the wider community for their support in this campaign,” he said.

The National Party is standing by its call for Michael Wood to be sacked from all his ministerial posts.

Wood, who retains his roles in the immigration and Auckland portfolio, was stood down as transport minister yesterday after it emerged he had continued to hold undeclared shares in Auckland Airport.

Speaking to RNZ, Christopher Luxon said it wasn’t so much the fact Wood held the shares – but the fact he had chosen not to declare them.

“What you do is you declare it, the cabinet office and you would have a conversation… and then you manage it,” said Luxon. “The conflicts aren’t being managed, that’s the issues. As long as it’s managed, that’s fine.”

Luxon said if he had been prime minister, Wood would have been gone on Friday (though PM Chris Hipkins has maintained he wasn’t made aware until Monday evening, with only his office told of the issue last Friday). Citing previous issues with ministers like Stuart Nash and Kiri Allan, Luxon said it was clear Labour MPs weren’t listening to Hipkins.

Pushed on whether there was a broader issue around conflicts, such as when MPs that own rental properties help devise rental policy, Luxon said that wasn’t the issue – because the issue was around the declaration.

Luxon said he had sold his shares before entering politics as a pre-emptive way of removing any potential conflicts. “This guy didn’t manage the conflict at all,” he said of Wood.

And there’s plenty more on the Wood saga/scandal/debacle, and the aftermath, in today’s edition of The Bulletin.