Clive Bibby: Keeping up with the Joneses

Love him or hate him (and I have had reservations at times) Shane Jones has an incredible ability to survive all the barbs and insults that appear to be part of the job as Winston’s loyal lieutenant.

Together they operate like a tag team - taking turns at blunting the criticism launched at the Government by the radical Maori Activists and anybody else who was responsible for the mess we have to clean up.
But it would be a mistake to suggest that role is the only effective one they play as members of the governing coalition.

In my humble opinion, they have proved to be two of the most reliable and competent ministers in the roles they have been given by the leaders of both recent coalitions they have been part of.

And it isn’t hard to see why they are and have been so valuable to governments when so much time and energy are wasted defending against those who think they have a mortgage on representing Maori values and heritage.

My guess is that Jones and Peters’ effectiveness is largely due to an inimitable ability to quickly assess a situation and respond leaving opponents grasping at straws trying to compete with the one liners to which they have no answer.

My experience of personally dealing with Shane Jones in particular is that he is only interested in treating each proposal on its merits. It would appear he is genuinely colour blind when assessing the benefits to the country. Just look at his recent moves to unlock mineral resources against the protests from conservation and Iwi groups who want to lock the place up and throw away the key.

If he thinks an idea is worth pursuing and is in the interests of the people who are unable to do it for themselves, he is willing to brush aside special interest groups who are either opposed or who wish to retain control of any development, reluctant to share with those who are regarded as inferior.

I have watched Shane Jones ignore the insults of local politicians who, for their own selfish or idealogical reasons, oppose the Government’s support for community projects with real potential. One local project here on the East Coast was being offered $40 million of government regional development funds for an inspired project that would increase the profitability of the East Coast logging industry. He was told by the Deputy Mayor to bugger off for no other reason than the councillor had already decided his own pet projects had higher priority.

It must take a lot of metal fortitude to keep sorting out the projects that are worthy of consideration from those that are continuously sucking on the Government tit and by so doing, postponing the demise of systems that have long outlived their usefulness.

When the story is told to future generations of how this wealthy nation came so close to bankruptcy, l hope the architects of our recovery are given the credit they deserve.

Foremost on the list should be those like Winston Peters and Shane Jones who have achieved much in their relatively short time at the helm.

My guess is that, like so many others, they will receive scant attention compared to those who have achieved “ Saint like” status from sycophantic historians who grovel at the altar of socialist propaganda.

And we all know who l’m talking about.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.