Good riddance to feckless rubbish

Three weeks ago Transport Minister Michael Wood was stood down after failing to properly declare a conflict of interest. Today, he's finally resigned:

Suspended transport minister Michael Wood has resigned as a Cabinet minister, after it was revealed his family trust held shares in Chorus, Spark, and the National Australia Bank that he did not declare.

Wood had made or been involved in decisions relevant to the sectors in which he held these undeclared shareholdings. The minister had already been under scrutiny for not declaring a conflict of interest related to his shareholding in Auckland Airport while working as transport minister.

"I have not managed this effectively, I take responsibility for it, and as such have submitted my resignation to the prime minister. I apologise to him and the public for this situation,” Wood said.

And good riddance to him. Wood's "explanation" for his failure to divest his Auckland airport shares despite years of reminders was always unconvincing, and "discovering" further undeclared conflicts makes it even less so. At best, he's simply too feckless to hold any position of public trust. And it certainly makes him seem completely out-of-touch with normal people, who know what they own and don't use secret trusts to try and hide their assets. But then, normal people would also check for further problems the first or second time they were told to divest, not the thirteenth. By failing to do so, he's not only ended his political career, but also invited judicial review of every decision he's made affecting the relevant companies or their competitors.

Apparently there will be much more intense scrutiny of cabinet conflicts of interest as a result of this, and the Prime Minister is considering a full ban on shareholdings by Ministers. Good. But note what's missing from the new regime: transparency. At present conflict of interest information is guarded closely by DPMC, with only an infrequently released public summary which carefully removes any actual details. Which isn't good enough. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If we want to be able to be sure Ministers are not behaving corruptly, and are managing their conflicts appropriately, then the secrecy over what they have declared and when steps are taken to remove them from decisions must end.