Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a
New Zealand First
New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...
list MP
A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than from by a geographical constituency. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes that the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs ...
from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a
cabinet minister
A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...
in the
Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand
The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the List of New Zealand governments, government of New Zealand from 10 December 1999 to 19 November 2008. New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party leader Helen Clark negotiated a coalition with Jim A ...
, becoming Minister of Building and Construction in his first term. He was a senior opposition MP from 2008 to 2014 and contested the leadership of the Labour Party in a
2013 leadership election, but lost to
David Cunliffe
David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parli ...
.
He left parliament at the end of May 2014
before returning as a New Zealand First MP at the
2017 general election. Jones was Minister for Regional Economic Development in the
New Zealand First–Labour coalition government.
Early life and career
Jones is
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
, of
Te Aupōuri
Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island.
Te Reo ...
and
Ngāi Takoto
Ngāi Takoto is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāi Takoto trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Tuwhakatere, and trace their arrival in New Zealand to ...
descent, as well as having
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
and
Croatian ancestry.
He was born in Awanui, near Kaitaia, one of six children to parents Peter, a farmer, and Ruth, a teacher.
Jones' secondary education was taken at
St Stephen's School, a boarding school for Māori boys in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, south of
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
.
His time there overlapped with future
Māori Party
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
MPs
Hone Harawira
Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and former parliamentarian. He was elected to parliament as the member for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 as the Māori Party candidate.
In 2011, following ...
and
Te Ureroa Flavell.
Jones next studied at
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand.
The university is well know ...
where he earned a Bachelor of Arts.
In 1990, he was awarded a
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several cou ...
to study at
Harvard Kennedy School
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
where he completed a Master of Public Administration.
Jones returned to Victoria University in the 1990s as a lecturer in Māori studies.
Jones was a public servant in the 1980s. He worked in the Māori secretariat in the
Ministry for the Environment and later in the
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, providing advice to the
Fourth Labour Government
The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda o ...
on
settling Treaty of Waitangi breaches. When the
Fourth National Government began the settlements process in the 1990s, he was brought on as a member of the
Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission. He became chair of the commission in August 2000 and completed the allocation of fisheries resources among iwi in 2004.
He also chaired the Māori-owned fishing corporation Sealord during which period the company was merged with
Nippon Suisan Kaisha
, is a marine products company based in Japan. It had annual revenues of US$5.1 billion in 2014.Until November 30, 2022, the company name will be . The company was established in 1911, and is a commercial fishing and marine product procurement ...
. A 2004 "
power list" by the ''
New Zealand Listener
The ''New Zealand Listener'' is a weekly New Zealand magazine that covers the political, cultural and literary life of New Zealand by featuring a variety of topics, including current events, politics, social issues, health, technology, arts, f ...
'' ranked him the ninth most powerful New Zealander.
Jones has seven children with his former wife Ngāreta,
from whom he separated in 2011. She died from cancer in 2015. Jones began a relationship with former beauty queen Dorothy (Dot) Pumihi in 2011 while she was his campaign manager.
Member of Parliament
Jones spent twelve years as a member of Parliament—first with the
Labour Party for nine years from 2005 to 2014, then with
New Zealand First
New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...
from 2017 to 2020—and was a Cabinet minister under both parties.
Although he had often been speculated by the media and among his colleagues as a future leader of the Labour Party,
Jones' move away from Labour was not a surprise. Before his election as a Labour MP, Sir
Graham Latimer had tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit him for the
National Party.
Instead, Jones joined Labour in part because he had been impressed by
David Lange
David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.
Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
and the
Fourth Labour Government
The Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand governed New Zealand from 26 July 1984 to 2 November 1990. It was the first Labour government to win a second consecutive term since the First Labour Government of 1935 to 1949. The policy agenda o ...
.
Over time he felt less comfortable in the "modern Labour Party," and openly stated in 2014 that he was not "naturally left-leaning."
He had been speculated as a New Zealand First candidate since at least 2015 before officially joining the party in 2017, in part due to his close relationship with New Zealand First leader
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...
.
![Shane Jones New Zealand MP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Shane_Jones_New_Zealand_MP.jpg)
Fifth Labour Government, 2005–2008
After the fisheries settlement was passed by Parliament in 2004, Jones announced he was interested in standing for the Labour Party at the
upcoming election. He was approved as the candidate for the
Northland electorate and was ranked 27 on the party list. This was the highest position given by Labour to someone who was not already a member of Parliament. While Jones did not with Northland, he entered Parliament as a list MP and was immediately made the chair of the
Finance and Expenditure Select Committee.
On 31 October 2007, by then still in his first term, Jones was promoted into Cabinet. He became
Minister for Building and Construction and held additional responsibilities as associate minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Immigration and Trade. He scrapped a government proposal requiring new buildings to have low flow showers heads, prior to the
2008 general election.
Opposition, 2008–2014
Labour was defeated at the election and Jones contested the
Northland electorate unsuccessfully, but was returned to parliament as a list member due to his high
list placing of 16. Labour lost again in the 2011 election; Jones was defeated in
Tāmaki Makaurau
Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the . The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour ...
but remained a list MP. During his six years as an opposition MP, Jones held various portfolios in the
Goff
Goff is a surname with several distinct origins, mainly Germanic, Celtic, Jewish, and French. It is the 946th most common family name in the United States. When the surname originates from England it is derived from an occupational name from G ...
,
Shearer and
Cunliffe shadow cabinets including building and construction, infrastructure, economic development, transport, fisheries, forestry and Māori affairs.
He was twice removed from his portfolios under controversy. On 10 June 2010, after the release of ministerial credit card records, Jones admitted to having used a
Crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
credit card for personal expenditure, but assured the public that he had reimbursed the Crown in full for the expenditure. Later that day Jones admitted that he had used the card to hire pornographic films at hotels while on ministerial business. The credit card record showed that he chartered an executive jet for $1200, which he claimed was due to bad weather which forced a change in his schedule. Four days later, opposition leader
Phil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 No ...
demoted Jones along with two other Labour MPs for misuse of ministerial credit cards.
As Associate Minister of Immigration in 2008, Jones approved the
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
application of Labour Party donor, Chinese businessman and later convicted money launderer William Yan, also known as Bill Liu. Four years later, Yan was charged with making false declarations on immigration documents. On 23 May 2012, Jones stood down from the front bench and his
shadow portfolios while an investigation took place. Labour Party leader
David Shearer
David James Shearer (born 28 July 1957) is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013.
Shea ...
asked the
Auditor-General
A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level execut ...
to investigate Jones' handling of the citizenship application. Jones had acted against officials' advice that he should decline the application because of questions about Yan's multiple identities and a warrant for his arrest in China. Jones defended his decision, saying it was based on humanitarian grounds because a high-level Government official had told him that Yan faced execution if he returned to China. Shearer said Jones supported the decision to refer the matter to the Auditor-General because Jones must be given a chance to clear his name.
On 24 May 2012, Yan was found not guilty on all the immigration charges. The Auditor-General investigation commenced on 30 May 2012. When it reported back the following year, it found no evidence that there was any improper motive, collusion, or political interference in the decision to authorise citizenship.
In 2014, while economic development spokesperson, Jones alleged that
Progressive Enterprises
Woolworths New Zealand Limited (formerly Progressive Enterprises) is the second largest grocery company in New Zealand (behind Foodstuffs), with revenue of NZ$6.2 billion for the year to June 2018. Alongside Foodstuffs, Woolworths NZ forms part ...
, owner of
Countdown supermarkets, was involved in racketeering and extortion. A
Commerce Commission
The Commerce Commission ( mi, Te Komihana Tauhokohoko) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and regula ...
investigation found no evidence to support the claims.
Leadership contest and resignation
David Shearer
David James Shearer (born 28 July 1957) is a New Zealand United Nations worker and politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 2009 to 2016, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2011 to 2013.
Shea ...
resigned the Labour leadership in August 2013. Jones was the second MP to declare his candidacy, following Shearer's former deputy leader Grant Robertson. The pair would be joined by the party's economic development spokesperson
David Cunliffe
David Richard Cunliffe (born 30 April 1963) is a New Zealand management consultant and former politician who was Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from September 2013 to September 2014. He was Member of Parli ...
, who secured sufficient support from party delegates to win the leadership. Jones later said his candidacy was to honour Labour stalwart
Parekura Horomia
Parekura Tureia Horomia (9 November 1950 – 29 April 2013) was a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Māori Affairs between 2000 and 2008.
Early life
Horomia was born in Tolaga Bay of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga Hauiti, ...
who had died earlier that year. Jones won the votes of seven out of 34 caucus colleagues and a minority of members' and affiliated unions' votes. Crucially, he did not have the support of senior Māori Labour MPs
Nanaia Mahuta
Nanaia Cybele Mahuta (born 21 August 1970) is a New Zealand politician who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hauraki-Waikato and serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Sixth Labour Governm ...
and
Louisa Wall
Louisa Hareruia Wall (born 17 February 1972) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 2011 to 2022. She has represented New Zealand in both netball as a Silver Fern and rugby union as a m ...
.
On 22 April 2014, Jones announced his intention to step down as a Labour Party MP, leaving at the end of May. He was appointed to the newly created role of Pacific Economic Ambassador by Foreign Affairs Minister
Murray McCully
Murray Stuart McCully (born 19 February 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2008 to 2017.
Early life
Born in Whangārei, McCully was educated at Arap ...
.
Kelvin Davis succeeded him as Labour list MP.
New Zealand First
![Shane Jones 2018 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Shane_Jones_2018_1.jpg)
On 30 June 2017, after months of speculation, Jones was confirmed as the
New Zealand First
New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Winst ...
candidate for
Whangarei for the
2017 general election. Jones was also placed eighth on the party list for New Zealand First, above some of the members of the New Zealand First caucus of the
Parliament at the time, increasing his chances of re-entering Parliament.
New Zealand online magazine,
The Spinoff
''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...
hosted a live debate on Facebook, among seven of the 2017 election's candidates that the magazine found "most exciting", including Jones, representing New Zealand First. Jones placed third in Whangarei, behind
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
candidate
Shane Reti
Shane Raymond Reti (born 5 June 1963) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, first elected at the 2014 general election. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party and served as its deputy ...
and Labour candidate Tony Savage, but was elected as one of New Zealand First's nine list MPs.
New Zealand First held the balance of power. Jones was part of the negotiating team that ultimately saw Winston Peters select a coalition with Labour over National. Jones was appointed
Minister for Infrastructure, Minister of Forestry and Minister for Regional Economic Development and associate minister for finance and transport. As Minister for Regional Economic Development Jones was responsible for the $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund and announced a number of grants for the development of various regions, e.g. for Southland, the West Coast and the Wairarapa. The first grants in February 2018 included $6 million for the Whanganui rail line, $5 million for the Napier-Wairoa rail line and $2.3 million for the Gisborne port. Further grants were announced for
Hillside Engineering
Hillside Engineering Group is a trading division of the rail operator KiwiRail in Dunedin, New Zealand. Most of its work is related to KiwiRail, but it also does work for the marine industry in Dunedin. On 19 April 2012 KiwiRail announced it was ...
in
South Dunedin
South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...
($20million) as a major heavy engineering and
KiwiRail
KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...
servicing hub. The fund was criticised by National for being a "slush fund" targeted toward marginal electorates and for the links between some fund applications and New Zealand First.
Jones continued to court controversy in his new party. On 25 September 2019, Jones and Labour MP
Kieran McAnulty
Kieran Michael McAnulty (born 31 January 1985) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician. First elected to parliament in 2017, he is a minister outside Cabinet and the Member of Parliament for the Wairarapa electorate. Formerly the Chief Governm ...
were ejected from Parliament by the
Speaker of the House
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
Usage
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
Trevor Mallard
Trevor Colin Mallard (born 17 June 1954) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. First elected to Parliament in 1984, he was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022.
Mallard was a Cabinet m ...
after trading barbs with National MPs during a parliamentary debate about
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
's meeting with
US President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. In mid-October 2019, Jones drew media attention when he was photographed using an
AR-15 style rifle
An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...
while on holiday. The AR-15 rifle was among the semi-automatic weapons banned by New Zealand Government's
Arms (Prohibited Firearms, Magazines, and Parts) Amendment Act 2019 following the
Christchurch mosque shootings
On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...
.
Jones drew further criticism when he made a series of anti-Indian remarks in October and November 2019 and again in February 2020. In response to members of the
Indian New Zealand community's criticism of
Immigration New Zealand
Immigration New Zealand ( mi, Te Ratonga Manene; INZ), formerly the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS), is the agency within the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that is responsible for border control, issu ...
's recent decision to tighten partnership visas for those on
arranged marriage
Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...
s, Jones had said:
Jones' comments were condemned by the Waitakere Indian Association, who called on Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...
and Minister for Ethnic Communities
Jenny Salesa
Jennifer Teresia Salesa (née Latu, born 1968) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who has served as a Member of Parliament since 2014. She was first elected as MP for Manukau East, and after its abolition in 2020 won th ...
to demand a public apology from Jones and to address the Indian community's concerns. A rally in protest of Jones' remarks was held on 3 November 2019 by members of the Migrant Workers Association and Love Aotearoa Hate Racism.
Jones' remarks were also condemned by the broadcaster
Patrick Gower
Patrick Gower (born 1976/1977) is a New Zealand political journalist and National Correspondent for ''Newshub'' (formerly called 3 News)''.'' Prior to his current role he was Newshub's political editor.
Early life
Gower grew up in New Plymouth ...
, who described Jones as a "gutless wonder." Prime Minister Ardern, Trade Minister
Damien O'Connor
Damien Peter O'Connor (born 16 January 1958) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who currently serves as Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for Land Information and Minister ...
, and
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway
Iain Francis Lees-Galloway (born 18 September 1978), initially Iain Galloway, is a New Zealand former politician. He represented the Palmerston North electorate in Parliament for the Labour Party. He was the Minister for Workplace Relations, Im ...
have disavowed Jones' remarks as not representative of the New Zealand Government.
On 5 November 2019, Jones described the community response as a "
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
reaction" and claimed that he was speaking for New Zealanders who were anxious about immigration.
On 6 November 2019, the Government reversed the partnership visa decision, restoring the exception for non-resident Indian marriages.
The following year, Jones claimed in a television interview that immigration was placing "enormous stress" on the country's social and economic infrastructure and that the large number of international students from India had ruined New Zealand tertiary institutions. Jones' remarks were criticised by Prime Minister Ardern, the Waitakere Indian Association, National Party leader
Simon Bridges
Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer. He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to ...
,
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
co-leader
James Shaw, and Labour MP
Iain Lees-Galloway
Iain Francis Lees-Galloway (born 18 September 1978), initially Iain Galloway, is a New Zealand former politician. He represented the Palmerston North electorate in Parliament for the Labour Party. He was the Minister for Workplace Relations, Im ...
. The Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon also condemned them as "racist, ignorant and harmful." Jones defended his comments, claiming that members of the Indian community were exploiting their own people.
As Forestry Minister, Jones' flagship policy was to plant one billion trees. A farmers' protest in November 2019 against the Government's forestry policy caught Jones' ire; he described them as "rednecks."
Federated Farmers
Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a lobby and advocacy group for all farmers: arable including fruit and vegetables, dairy and meat and their often remote communities. It has a network of 24 regional organisations and six industry groups. Fed ...
vice president Andrew Hoggard described Jones' comments as unhelpful and alleged that the Government was ignoring the agricultural sector's concerns. In 2020, Jones described climate change activists for advocating reduced meat consumption as "medieval torture chamber workers" hellbent on "preaching this gospel of absolutism" in response to the Government's recent announcement that they would be introducing
climate change education Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change ...
in schools.
Jones was selected as New Zealand First's
Northland candidate for the
2020 election. He was defeated, coming third place with 5,119 votes behind Labour's
Willow-Jean Prime (17,066) and National's
Matt King (16,903).
New Zealand First also lost all its parliamentary seats, gaining only 2.6% percent of the party vote, below the five percent threshold needed to enter Parliament. Since leaving Parliament for the second time, Jones has provided media commentary critical of the
Sixth Labour Government.
Notes
References
External links
Valedictory speechat Inthehouse.co.nz
Profile on NZ Parliament site
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Shane
1959 births
Living people
New Zealand people of English descent
New Zealand people of Welsh descent
New Zealand people of Croatian descent
Te Aupōuri people
Ngāi Takoto people
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Harkness Fellows
New Zealand Labour Party MPs
Māori MPs
People from the Northland Region
New Zealand list MPs
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
21st-century New Zealand politicians
New Zealand First MPs
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Government ministers of New Zealand
Candidates in the 2017 New Zealand general election
Unsuccessful candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election