Michael Wood was asked 12 times by the Cabinet Office whether he had divested his Auckland Airport shares - including several occasions this year - and told officials he was about to or was in the process of doing so.
Despite those assurances, which took place over nearly two-and-a-half years, Wood failed to sell his shares, which have now turned into a conflict of interest scandal given Wood didn't initially declare them to Parliament and held them while having the Transport Minister portfolio.
Wood was stood down from the role on Tuesday while he resolves the conflict and has accepted he made errors. He said he did start the process of selling the shares, but life admin got in the way of him following up with a broker whether the shares had been sold.
The revelation that Wood was asked 12 times by the Cabinet Office comes after the Prime Minister on Tuesday said he believed Wood had been asked about "half a dozen" times.
However, Chris Hipkins on Wednesday in Parliament listed 12 times the Cabinet Office asked Wood. That includes on three occasions this year.
Hipkins said Wood should have divested his shares when he said he was going to.
Speaking later in Parliament, Wood said: "I regret that I did not pursue that as quickly as I should have."
He said he is now trying to fix his mistakes, including selling the shares. He engaged his sharebroker this morning to ensure the process is underway.
Wood has said he previously had a "hitch" with selling the shares. While in the process of doing so, which he began in February last year, he was meant to get information back from the share register but that didn't arrive because they had an old email address.
"I acknowledge the faults. I should have followed up on that and I didn't. That is why I am in this situation," he told reporters.
"This is something I lost sight of. I have a very large job. I work 80 to 90-hour weeks. Some of these things in my life administration, I have let slip. I shouldn't have."
He denied that him holding shares had any impact on any decisions he has made as a minister.
It emerged on Tuesday that Wood initially failed to declare with Parliament's pecuniary interest register that he held about $13,000 worth of shares in Auckland Airport. He eventually declared these appropriately last year, but didn't correct previous registers.
Wood said he did inform the Cabinet Office of the shares when he became a minister. But the Cabinet Office was also told Wood was going to sell the shares, which hasn't happened.
National leader Christopher Luxon said the Government was too focused on personnel issues after the Stuart Nash, Kiri Allan, Meka Whaitiri, Jan Tinetti and, now, Wood dramas.
"It's losing the plot and it's out of touch with what matters most to New Zealanders," he said.
ACT leader David Seymour said Wood should be sacked altogether.
