Shane Jones
Encyclopedia
Shane Geoffrey Jones is a New Zealand
politician. He was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand
.
and Ngai Takoto
descent, as well as having Dalmatia
n ancestry. He has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Master Public Administration (MPA), and was awarded a Harkness Fellowship
to study at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
.
for the Labour Party
, being ranked twenty-seventh on its party list. This is the highest position given by Labour to someone who was not already a member of Parliament. He took his seat in the new parliament after the Labour Party won 50 seats in New Zealand's 120 seat parliament.
Jones held a number of senior roles in the public sector, being best known for his work as chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission. He also worked for the Ministry for the Environment and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
After his entry into the parliament, after 2005 Election
, Jones became Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee. He has often been speculated by the media and amongst his colleagues as the future leader of the Labour Party.
In the Cabinet re-shuffle on 31 October 2007, Jones was made a Cabinet Minister with the portfolios of Building and Construction, and was made an 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
. Labour was defeated at the election and Jones contested the Northland electorate
unsuccessfully, but was returned to parliament due to his high list placing of 16.
demoted Jones along with two other Labour MPs for misuse of ministerial credit cards. Jones was removed from the parliamentary front bench and stripped of the shadow portfolios of Environment and Economic Development.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
politician. He was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand
Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand
The Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand between 10 December 1999 and 19 November 2008.-Overview:The fourth National government, in power since 1990, was widely unpopular by 1999, with much of the public antagonised by a series of free-market economic reforms,...
.
Early life
Jones is Māori, of Te AupōuriTe Aupouri
Te Aupōuri is the northernmost Māori iwi , located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Aupouri Peninsula.-The ancestral legend:...
and Ngai Takoto
Ngai Takoto
Ngāi Takoto is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. Ngāi Takoto trace their ancestry back to Tuwhakatere, and their arrival in New Zealand to the Kurahaupo canoe ....
descent, as well as having Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n ancestry. He has a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Master Public Administration (MPA), and was awarded a Harkness Fellowship
Harkness Fellowship
The Harkness Fellowships are a programme run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. They were established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several countries to spend time studying in the United States...
to study at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Member of Parliament
He stood in the 2005 electionsNew Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
for the Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
, being ranked twenty-seventh on its party list. This is the highest position given by Labour to someone who was not already a member of Parliament. He took his seat in the new parliament after the Labour Party won 50 seats in New Zealand's 120 seat parliament.
Jones held a number of senior roles in the public sector, being best known for his work as chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission. He also worked for the Ministry for the Environment and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
After his entry into the parliament, after 2005 Election
New Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
, Jones became Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee. He has often been speculated by the media and amongst his colleagues as the future leader of the Labour Party.
In the Cabinet re-shuffle on 31 October 2007, Jones was made a Cabinet Minister with the portfolios of Building and Construction, and was made an 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
New Zealand general election, 2008
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...
. Labour was defeated at the election and Jones contested the Northland electorate
Northland (New Zealand electorate)
Northland is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate was established for the 1996 election and is currently not represented, after the only MP for the electorate so far, John Carter of the National Party,...
unsuccessfully, but was returned to parliament due to his high list placing of 16.
Expense controversy
On 10 June 2010 after the release of ministerial credit card records, Jones admitted to having used a Crown 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 also showed him chartering an executive jet for $1200, which he said was because bad weather forced a change in his schedule. On 14 June 2010, Opposition Leader Phil GoffPhil Goff
Philip Bruce Goff is the current Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. During the Fifth Labour Government, he served in a number of ministerial portfolios, including Minister of Defence of New Zealand, Minister of Corrections, Minister of Foreign Affairs and...
demoted Jones along with two other Labour MPs for misuse of ministerial credit cards. Jones was removed from the parliamentary front bench and stripped of the shadow portfolios of Environment and Economic Development.