Shane Jones’ weird premature budget take

Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, May 14th, 2022 - 11 comments
Categories: Budget 2021, Economy, labour, nz first, Shane Jones, the praiseworthy and the pitiful - Tags:

Who remembers former Labour MP Matua Shane Jones?

He was the Labour MP and Cabinet Minister who was heavy on rhetorical flourishes but light on work.  His most famous achievement was to be outed as having purchased porn on his Ministerial credit card.

He showed his commitment to the Labour Party by taking a specially created job organised by Murray McCully shortly before the 2014 election.  He then came back as deputy leader of New Zealand First.  During his tenure NZ First’s party vote declined by two thirds and he was placed a distant third in the Northland seat, a seat he self predicted that he would win.

His budget takes are full of those familiar rhetorical flourishes mixed with gibberish that featured throughout his career.

Like this take:

This year Grant Robertson, despite Covid-response bouquets, will receive brickbats as families struggle with economic hardship and social engineering. Too many firms are grappling with workforce shortages and creeping red tape. Robertson will lecture us about climate change whilst minions run around Auckland puncturing SUV tyres.

Kiwis know the private sector is the economic engine, generating funds to meet our societal obligations such as health. It is already spluttering and there will be a loud backfire clap after this Budget. The motor is weighed down with new costs from cameras on fishing boats through to scrappy unions. At the very least, the Government should cease feeding inflation and call time on unnecessary regulation.

Where to start?  Claiming that social inflation is causing inflation is a new one.  Complaining about full employment is another.  And suggesting that Labour Party minions are responsible for an isolated case of tyre slashing is borderline defamatory.

As for the economy it is performing very well especially compared to overseas.  If Shane ended his lifetime habit of not reading papers he would realise this.  The cameras on fishing boats are not new and there is no sign of unions being more scrappy.

But his rhetoric gets worse.  He says that he hopes climate change funding will be “for practical infrastructure and not wasted on minority hobbies such as bike-riding in Auckland.”  He also says that the budget should “cancel the bottomless pit of consultancy gravy known as light rail”.

If we do away with walkways and cycleways and public transport then there is not a great deal else that we can do.

He finishes with a flourish which makes you wonder how he ever became a Labour MP and says that without external experience, CEOs of public service entities shouldn’t be employed to run the State. Private enterprise experience rather than a pure state sector diet is crucial in maintaining “the engine of growth”.

What is particularly galling is Shane believing that he can criticise the budget even though he has no idea what is going to be in it.  Such uber confidence about a subject that he has absolutely no knowledge about is a feature of his career.

11 comments on “Shane Jones’ weird premature budget take ”

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  1. Sacha 1
    14 May 2022 at 12:51 pm

    Another flatulent codger who needs to move on.

  2. dv 2
    14 May 2022 at 12:56 pm

    1921?

    mean 1922 surely

  3. dpalenski 3
    14 May 2022 at 1:25 pm

    Walking Dunning Kruger effect

  4. Chris T 4
    14 May 2022 at 1:53 pm

    For all his fake pontificating way of acting, I always thought the dude was not the brightest light bulb on the old christmas tree.

    Pretty funny. I remember the days when people were talking about him probably taking over from Winston Peters.

    TBF, they do have that similar full of crap way of talking though.

    Weirdly seems to appeal to old ladies.

  5. Corey Humm 5
    14 May 2022 at 3:48 pm

    Shane Jones is a legendary twit and he probably lost Winston First seats in 2017. How he a careerist who had a tantrum after he didn't become nzlp leader had the audacity to pretend he was a populist and was seen as an asset and a future leader of the party is mind blowing. Tracy Martin and Ron Mark, two highly regarded mp's and ministers were the biggest assets to that party and two of the best ministers of the sixth labour government.

    Much of what he said is standard Tory nonsense but he is correct on consultants, the consultancy gravy train needs to end. Consultants are multiplying faster than COVID cases and ministry of transport is now spending half it's budget on consultants and admin and bugger all on infrastructure. I hate Brown but he has a pint and the minister told the ministry to pull it's head in, I hope ministers are all firmer on this, we don't need more pr reps, consultants, middle management, advertising reps of coms reps in govt.

    Lefty's need to stop saying things like "As for the economy it is performing very well especially compared to overseas", the govt does it all the time and everytime it gets groans. Who is the economy performing well for? It is not performing well for middle and lower income NZ it's actually a hellscape and has been so for about 9 months. Out entire wages are now going to supermarkets, rent and getting to work.

    The economy may be performing well on right wing paper but only for the big end of town not Joe public and yes if there's no relief on GST or Tax something 76 and 68 % of kiwi's want respectively, including a majority of labour voters wanting tax cuts, I think the writing will be on the wall for the govt. If the technocrats in labour want a third term they better read the room and cut gst or offer some kind of tax cuts or further tax credit expansion to the low end of town (preferably raise them for the big end of town)

    This budget could really turn the tide for labour if it's cost of living apocalypse focused, if it's a technocratic centralization that doesn't engage in retail politics the cover of the budget should be a coffin because the government will have written it's own obituary by ignoring the constantly polled number one issue this year which is living costs

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/05/simeon-brown-lays-into-government-as-waka-kotahi-gets-warning-from-transport-minister-michael-wood.amp.html

  6. Belladonna 6
    14 May 2022 at 6:41 pm

    Really don't know why the media (or anyone else) give Shane Jones air time.
    He's not only a 'has been' he's a 'never was'

    Memorable only for the pork-barrel politics with which he tried to buy NZ First a continued slice of the pie at the 2020 election (in which he failed miserably).

  7. Peter 7
    15 May 2022 at 11:01 am

    Recently Shane Jones had his say about gangs in Kaikohe (in the Bay of Islands.) Those concerned about the town, about the youth of the district and the gang situation would have taken note. Some serious answers for the problems? An exercise in getting attention?

    "These nephs who won't work, subsist on the benefit, and treat life as an audition to join a gang," he said.

    "However, any further information (about a particular incident) is blah, blah; just noise."

    I thought the 'nephs' and 'cussies' were off the sofa planting trees. Indeed Shane Jones, blah, blah. Just noise, all piss and wind.

    Behind the wall:

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/shane-jones-gang-warfare-on-kaikohe-streets-time-to-end-the-soft-approach/FUVUKNXW5KXC2QJFWZ7A3OCYMY/

  8. tc 8
    16 May 2022 at 7:52 am

    Old man of questionable intent gets paid to shout at clouds.

    This dribble that granny serves up with zero fact checking is all part of the problem IMO

    • Peter 8.1
      16 May 2022 at 8:10 am

      In this case the Herald simply put up an opinion piece. See it as a public service – it gave us all a chance to see the continuing verbosity of Jones is accompanied by the similar level of vacuity and a considerable lower level of reasonable answers.

      It's from a former politician. The Herald thinks that ex-politicians have a lot to offer. Like Steve Joyce. He was a Minister for 9 years in a Government which helped create a massive housing crisis. His work done, he gets dumped, then proceeds to be a genius with all the solutions to our problems.

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