Over the last two years, many people have suspected that the Provincial Growth Fund is really a personal fund for Shane Jones to buy an electoral seat. Certainly, he has spent much of the funds allocated so far in the Far North, but while it may seem that he is favouring the region (which he clearly is), it would be hard to argue that they don’t need the money.
Here’s a suggestion, Shane. Build the roads that would allow freight and other vehicles to get in and out of the area safely, and watch the region’s prosperity grow.
But Jones seems to have taken traditional pork barreling to another level, with an alleged cash-for-votes scheme, that would presumably see him safely installed as an electorate MP.
I’m really not sure it was ever meant to work that way, Shane.
Controversial Cabinet Minister Shane Jones told a forestry awards ceremony they needed to vote for him or miss out on the billions he’s handing out for provincial growth, it has been alleged.
One person present labelled Jones’ comments as an inducement to “bribery” and another thought the minister – responsible for forestry and the $3 billion provincial growth fund – was “buying votes”.
Please note this claim has not been confirmed. If true, it is a disgrace.
A third person who objected to Jones’ comment said it detracted from the intent of the evening, which was to celebrate excellence in forestry.
A Newspaper
“It should never have been a political rally, which is what he made it. He was saying ‘if you don’t vote for me, you won’t get any share of the billion dollars’. He said you’ve only got a few months of me here, so you’d better vote.
“It’s just bribery. I thought that was pretty disgusting.”
Another person present said: “It wasn’t a political forum. He didn’t do himself any good. He just made a complete idiot of himself.”
Those interviewed did not want to be named, citing the influence of Jones’ Provincial Growth Fund and concerns speaking openly could have a personal and financial impact.
Having said it has not been confirmed, it seems there were several people present who believe it to be true that Shane Jones was trying to use the Provincial Growth Fund to buy votes.
This is a difficult matter to process. Shane Jones is an experienced parliamentarian, and a smart man, who should know that this type of behaviour will only be frowned upon in a country that is recognised for being one of the least corrupt in the world. Ministers in New Zealand simply cannot behave like that. Shane Jones must know this.
Is he worried that NZ First’s polling is so bad that they will not exist after the 2020 election, which will mean the end of his political career? Jones has been out of politics before. He’ll find a lucrative position in the islands somewhere, as an advisor or in a consulate or similar.
Is he worried that Winston will step down in 2020, meaning that the party, which is identified mainly with him alone, will simply fade away? Is Shane anxious to succeed Winston as kingmaker, with all the respect and power that it brings?
Maybe so, but he is not going the right way about it. The funds allocated to the Provincial Growth Fund are not his to use for an election campaign. This is taxpayers’ money, allocated to promote development in the regions, and he has no right to allegedly try to use it as an election fund. He would be better advised to try to find good projects that would encourage regional voters to believe in him.
We seem to have fallen away in so many areas in the last two years that I don’t even feel surprised by this, but just think. Imagine if it had been John Key, or Bill English trying to pull a stunt like this. The media would have torn them to shreds. David Farrar doesn’t mince words:
So this makes it crystal clear that the PGF has nothing to do with provincial growth. It is a bribery fund.
KIWIBLOG.