The Prime Minister has stood down Transport Minister Michael Wood after he failed to publicly disclose he owns shares in Auckland Airport.
Wood was supposed to get rid of the shares - but has failed to do so - leaving the Prime Minister to clean up yet another ministerial mess.
Buckle up and on yer bike, Wood.
"I think it is an unacceptable situation for him to find himself in and therefore I think the best thing to do is stand him down while he does resolve those matters," said Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
Wood has held the shares since the 1990s and they're currently worth about $13,000.
He declared his conflict of interest in holding the shares to the Cabinet Office when he became Transport Minister but never publicly disclosed them.
"The Cabinet Office had been advised by him on a number of occasions that he was divesting himself of the shares," said Hipkins. "That clearly hasn't happened. That is quite a material issue, so it is important that he does that."
Wood admits he made two mistakes.
"The first was not to declare that earlier on," said Wood. "That was a genuine error. The second one was not completing the sale of shares last year. I will be fixing both of those things now."
Wood said he instructed his sharebroker to divest the shares, but it never happened, and he never chased it up.
"The only explanation he has given me is it is, I guess if you like, a matter of life admin," said Hipkins. "It is not something he has sufficiently prioritised. He should have."
Wood said it's something that dropped off his radar while "working an 80 to 90 hour week".
"That's one me. I should have followed it up and that is what I'll be doing now."
That's despite being reminded not once, not twice, but about "half a dozen" times, the Prime Minister said.
The Opposition is taking aim at Hipkins.
"Chris Hipkins has a problem, just not managing his team," said National leader Christopher Luxon. "He is not a good leader in actually getting it gripped and actually getting his executive team focused."
The Prime Minister doesn't agree.
Ministerial messes are happening so often, Hipkins has found a Mr Fix-It
Kieran McAnulty will add acting Transport Minister to his ever-growing list of portfolios.
"I am just happy to do what I am asked to do and I was asked to do this today, so I said yes," he said.
And there's no shares to declare there.
"I have no shares. I have $1250 in a managed investment fund and I have a 1.6 percent lease share in a racehorse. That's it."
McAnulty is Racing Minister - he has declared his horse to the Cabinet Office.
Jenna Lynch Analysis
Is there a way back for Wood?
The Prime Minister says this is a temporary standdown while Wood sorts his shares out.
Firstly, Wood has finally gotta get rid of them. Secondly, he's got to update and fix all his reporting of them, including updating all the prior pecuniary interests registers.
The fact he was reminded six times and still didn't get it done is mindblowing.
The problem for Hipkins here is he's in a constant state of mopping up ministerial muck ups from Stuart Nash, to Kiri Allan, to Jan Tinetti and now Wood who was supposed to be one of Hipkins' safest pairs of hands.
The series of small scandals distracting from the bread and butter is becoming a pattern - National's laser focussed on casting the left as a coalition of chaos.
The risk of all these - in the scheme of it relatively minor indiscretions - is the cumulative effect of them.
The Government will be worried that the sheen of shambles sticks - that is nowhere near what they want four months from election day.
