Kate Hawkesby: Voters gave these guys the biggest majority ever, and look what they’ve done with that

So the final march for the man known around Parliament as the Little General, Michael Wood, surely he’s gone by lunchtime.

I mean being told to do something six times was already a lot, but to then find out it was in fact 12 times; come on.

As the Nat’s Nicola Willis said yesterday, she sometimes has to ask her 13 year old son to do things 5 or 6 times; but 12 times? That’s next level.

This is a cluster that Chris Hipkins can no longer ignore. Shifting $13,000 worth of shares is not that hard, let’s be honest. And you can’t argue you forgot when you got reminded about it 12 times.

The PM must be so fed up with this Cabinet. I mean the state of it. Michael Wood, Stuart Nash, Meka Whaitiri, the Jan Tinetti saga, the Kiri Allan saga. Too many sagas, too many shambles and all too close to the election.  

Luxon said the wheels are coming off this Government, I’d argue they’re already off.

It’s a clown car with wheels rolling around in all directions and the wheels are just hitting them all in the face now. Hipkins needs to salvage this somehow, he needs to look strong and decisive and managerial, he already let this whole thing loll around far too long - all weekend not dealing with it, he was too slow to even ask questions.

And by the time he started asking questions, more was coming out and it was getting worse and worse, the hole was getting bigger and bigger.

Here's the thing. We deserve better. Voters gave these guys the biggest majority ever to run this country, and look what they’ve done with that. Run it into the ground. Made a mockery of their time in office, bumbled, fumbled, lied, obfuscated, and in Michael Wood’s case, arrogantly assumed they’d get away with it all.

The ultimate notice will be served to this government on October 14th, but in the interim, they just have to do better, they just have to stop this shambolic rule breaking misleading circus act they’re currently putting on.

It’s funny isn’t it how people and polls and pundits are so focused on the Chris v Chris show. You know, Chippy from the Hutt with the sausage rolls versus flat old Luxon who looks a bit corporate and a bit boring.

Well, the reality is, look at their teams. Look at who’s around them, look at what sort of government you’re having run the place. Look at whose handling the baubles of office, holding the purse strings and managing the country efficiently and honestly. Are you telling me it’s these guys?

It’s Michael Wood and it’s Willie Jackson and it’s Jan Tinetti and it’s Ginny - ‘what Police operation?’ - Andersen? I mean come on. We deserve better.

I don’t care how many sausage rolls Chris Hipkins eats, that’s not how we should be voting.

Act’s David Seymour says in the interests of fairness and trust in public officials, it’s untenable Wood can stay on. Concealing a public interest, as Seymour pointed out, is banana republic behaviour and something we can’t accept.

I mean I know the bar’s already too low in this country with this Government, but we can’t possibly lower it even further.

The only honourable and appropriate thing to happen now, is for Michael to be sent into the Woods.

Kate Hawkesby is a political broadcaster on Newstalk ZB - her articles can be seen HERE.