Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, 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. 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 from 2017 to 2020.
Early life and career
Jones is Māori, of Te Aupōuri and Ngāi Takoto descent, as well as having English, Welsh and Croatian ancestry. He was born in Awanui, near Kaitaia, the eldest 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, south of Auckland. His time there overlapped with future Māori Party MPs Hone Harawira and Te Ururoa Flavell. Jones next studied at Victoria University of Wellington where he earned a Bachelor of Arts. In 1990, he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to study at Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University 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 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. A 2004 "power list" by the New Zealand Listener ranked him the ninth most powerful New Zealander.
Jones had seven children with his wife Ngāreta, from whom he separated in 2011. She died from cancer in 2015. Jones began a relationship with former beauty queen Dorothy (Dot) Pumipi 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 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 and the Fourth Labour Government. 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.
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 win 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.