Shane Jones

You know it normally takes three terms in Government for MPs to develop the arrogance that annoys so many voters. But Shane Jones seems to have picked it up in just a few months.

Prior to Jones entering Parliament I was a reasonably big fan of him, based on his impressive record of achievements. But someone in the Whips Office really needs to give him a smack around the head before Section 59 is repealed.

On the three strikes and you’re out theory Jones is on strike two. Strike One was when he thought his role as Select Committee Chair was to beat up and sneer at witnesses just because they said unwelcome things.

Strike Two was his response to a letter of complaint about the earlier rudeness with a “I ripped it up”.

The job of a select committee chair is not to unilaterally decide what will and will not be considered by the committee. Any formal correspondence should be placed before the committee even if complaining about your chairmanship. In fact especially if complaining. Select Committees are not Government committees they are committess of Parliament.

If Jones is this arrogant already I shudder what he will be like as a Minister. As I said I think he has the potential to be a very good Cabinet Minister one day. But someone really needs to talk to him about concepts such as respect and democracy.