Just after 5pm, no-one cared any more about what otherwise would have been a noteworthy story, as rumours swirled that Dr Clark would not be standing in his safe seat in the 2023 election.
Dr Clark did not return calls but his attempt at an enigmatic response when doorstopped by journalists, that he would speak about the matter "at an appropriate time", left little mystery over his likely political future.
Dr Clark is one of several prominent Labour MPs who were tipped to announce their decisions to retire from Parliament in the coming days, as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern prepares for a long-planned Cabinet reshuffle.
Ms Ardern’s office would not comment yesterday.
Dr Clark’s apparent decision to retire from politics would have come as no surprise had he made it in 2020, a year in which he was demoted to the backbench for two breaches of the Covid-19 protocols he had pushed into law as health minister.
However, Dr Clark decided to hang tough and must have felt quietly vindicated when returned by the voters of Dunedin in the election late that year with an increased majority.
He was also restored to Cabinet by his colleagues and has been a solid, if unspectacular, minister for the past two years; a low profile he probably craved after his eventful time in Labour’s first term.
He is at present the Minster of Statistics, Digital Economy and Communication, State Owned Enterprises and Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
In the latter capacity, Dr Clark this week released the Commerce Commission market study into the building supplies sector, but gave no hint in interviews that he might not be around to deliver the Government’s response to its recommendations.
Labour will not have to look far for a replacement for Dr Clark if he has indeed decided to retire.
First term list MP, environmental lawyer Rachel Brooking is from Dunedin and is an MP Labour will be extremely keen to have return to caucus after the 2023 election.
Although yet to shine in the debating chamber, Ms Brooking is well-regarded for her work on select committees and enthusiasm for working through the nuts and bolts of regulation and legislation, and is expected to play a leading role in the reform of the Resource Management Act next year.
Invercargill list MP Liz Craig, a former University of Otago academic, might also consider a shift back north.
Dr Clark grew up in Auckland and moved to Dunedin to study at the University of Otago. He eventually became the warden of Selwyn College.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Dr Clark was a Treasury analyst before returning to Dunedin and succeeding Pete Hodgson as MP for what was then the Dunedin North seat in 2011.
He is married with three children.
