Was that the last post? Michael Wood took steps to deal with the skills shortage – and then he emigrated to the back benches
The last item we recorded, after monitoring the government’s official website yesterday, dealt with changes to the Skilled Migrant Category to help businesses attract workers to fill skill shortages
The statement (Simplified path to residency for skilled workers) was released in the name of the Minister of Immigration, a fellow by name of Michael Wood.
As things turned out, this was the last ministerial statement we can expect to see posted on the website in his name. For some time, anyway.
After we had published our Buzz report which mentioned changes to the immigration rules, the very next ministerial press release from the Beehive yesterday afternoon drew attention to a change of circumstances for Wood and hinted at a skills shortage in the government.
The statement came from the PM, who said –
After we had published our Buzz report which mentioned changes to the immigration rules, the very next ministerial press release from the Beehive yesterday afternoon drew attention to a change of circumstances for Wood and hinted at a skills shortage in the government.
The statement came from the PM, who said –
(a) he had advised the Governor-General to accept Michael Wood’s resignation as a Minister;
And (instead of looking for and appointing a new minister to take up Wood’s array of portfolios)
(b) The Governor-General is being advised to reallocate Woods jobs to other senior ministers.
Does this mean there’s no-one on the back benches worthy of promotion?
Or have some ministers been under-employed?
Carmel Sepuloni will become Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety and Minister for Auckland, Andrew Little will become Minister of Immigration and David Parker will become Minister of Transport. Kiri Allan will become Associate Finance Minister.
Michael Wood not so long ago was also the Minister of Transport, but he was stood down from that post earlier this month and was investigated by a Parliamentary inquiry for failing to declare shares in Auckland Airport worth about $13,000.
The investigation uncovered other shareholdings which raised “significant concerns” around his failure to identify and manage potential and real conflicts of interest.
Wood’s folly – and that of others caught out in conflict-of-interest situations – is the subject of a post by Bryce Edwards HERE.
The PM’s announcement of what he has done and of Wood’s emigration from his ministerial office can be found alongside these statements –
Latest from the Beehive
The Government has hit a major milestone with the successful delivery of over 12,000 additional public homes since October 2017.
Around 171 New Zealanders from 14 groups will travel to Asia and Latin America over the next year for a life-changing overseas experience, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti announced today.
Big supermarkets are being stopped from locking competitors out of prime locations, with restrictions having been removed from more than 140 pieces of land following Government action, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Duncan Webb says.
Ngāti Paoa has witnessed the passing of the first reading of the Ngāti Paoa Claims Settlement Bill at Parliament today for their historical Treaty of Waitangi claims.
This morning I have advised the Governor-General to accept Michael Wood’s resignation as a Minister.
The PM no doubt took much greater pleasure in announcing the delivery of more public homes than in announcing the despatch to the back benches of Michael Wood.
His press statement highlighted:
- Labour is delivering the most public homes per year on average since the 1950s
- Over 12,000 public homes have been delivered – most of them new builds
- 1 in 7 of all public homes in NZ has been delivered under this Government
- Over 4,000 transitional homes have been delivered
- An estimated 22,000 people have been involved in the building programme
- Over 250 apprenticeships and cadetships have been involved in building public houses
- All public housing is on track to meet Healthy Home Standards by July 2024.
But a figure which Point of Order especially looked for – the cost of all this governmental effort on the housing front – was missing from the statement.
In fact just one of the new statements mentioned costs.
Andrew Little advised that the Ngāti Paoa claims settlement involves financial and commercial redress of $23.5 million.
“Cultural redress” includes 12 sites of traditional, historical and cultural significance to Ngāti Paoa, and “a number of Crown agencies” have become bound by protocols and relationship agreements.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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