Barry Soper: ZB senior political correspondent on Minister Shane Jones' clash with the climate protestors

Energy and Resources Minister Shane Jones has been caught up in a climate protest, while on a walk - over policy he's spearheading.

A small group of protestors marched down Wellington's Lambton Quay opposing the Government's bill reversing Labour's ban on oil and gas exploration.

They told Jones he should be ashamed of himself, a claim he loudly rebutted, saying they were being hyperbolic and extreme.

ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper unpacks Jones's response to the backlash.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Man, the Myth, the legend. Barry Sofa is here
in studio our senior political correspondent.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Sir again Jack, how are you today.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm very well, thank you. Just before we rip into things,
I just have to very quickly give an up that
on the rugby because the Blackfomends are taking on Ireland
at the moment. Ireland got ahead a couple of minutes ago,
but now the Black women have worked things back, so
we're ahead twenty five twenty two, seven minutes to go.
Let you know how they go. Anyway they should do,
they should do. The action plan is out forty three items.
I think most of these we knew about. But I'm

(00:29):
finding this to be a very honestly a useful exercise
and keeping up with the Yeah, it was program for
better than.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
The old nebulas used to get Jacinda dourn saying a
year of delivery, but without spelling out what was going
to be delivered. By the end of the year, it
was an absolute disaster, so nothing was delivered. But this
specifically spells out exactly where I want to go. And
this one is essentially about infrastructure, so there's no surprises there.
We all knew what they're going to do, but they

(00:58):
can be held accountable. And the point there Chris Luxon
made today was that they've delivered thirty nine of the
forty actions they announced in that third Action Plan and
that was an easy while an easy year one. It
took a lot of legislation, a law and order. But
he was in Auckland today and he was doing a

(01:20):
stand up with some journalists. They went that interest in
the action Plan, but they were interested in the Dunedin hospital, which,
of course, as we know, drew a protest in that
city of thirty five thousand over the weekend. He said
he wants to build it, but it has to be
contained in the one point nine billion dollar envelope, which

(01:43):
he says, we'll still make it one of the most
expensive hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere. Here he was a
short time ago.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
We've got a review underway looking at two options, whether
on the new side or the old site. Will take
advice on that and move through very quickly. We are
committed to building a new hospital there, but you cannot
have a set situation as we've inherited around the ferries,
as we've inhered around still buildings where we have cost
blowouts and we have to make sure that we can
get a good hospital in place for the people have
doneded in the south, but within budget because the choices

(02:13):
we have limited amounts of money and the reality is
that those are the moneys we cannot invest in other
regional hospitals which we also have in commitments and investments
around as well.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
So I hope that gives some hope to the people
of Dunedin because they certainly do need an upgraded hospital
in that city.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Shane Jones has with them.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
I know you're going to be interviewing them. I think
after part oh we just had him were Shane Jones.
What I really love about Shane Jones he likes to
mix it and you'll get out there and standing on
a street, he was in Wellington and was r not
far from Parliament. He was standing there giving the protesters
jupo and they were climate change protesters and a woman

(02:54):
was standing essentially with a megaphone right up to his face,
but that didn't put him off his pace. You're climate terrorists.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
You're being to destroy this country.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
You are going to rip this country's hard up joy
your democratic writers, you're being hyperpolect, like you're entitled to
pre palasis when we're not destroying the planet.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
The planet is not going to keating a prophebed pause.
We want to keep the lights on and power industry
carrying on and missing.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
What they were really hosed off about was that the
legislation only gives four days on the oil and guess
stuff of submissions. What the point he made, and it's
absolutely right when it was canned, well, no notice was given.
The exploration was canned overnight. Essentially.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
I don't think even New Zealand first even got a
heads up as a coalition partner. Then yeah, well you know,
and what.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
He said was our mandate was at the last election,
they went out they they are not protested. They told
the electric what was going to happen, and they do it.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, Christopher Luxen has sold his apartment and moved into
Premier House.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Well, the poor prime minister he turned out hopefully he
would think, I would imagine because it's at the Long
Bay housing development. He's hoping you get some questions on that.
But he got more about Premiere House and that used
to be known as the Murder House because it was
a dentist and the thing is that anyone gets murdered
if they don't live there.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Problem. So he sold his apartment around the corner, and
so he said it was rather pathetic, really, I thought,
he said. Look, they replaced some carpet thirty four years old.
They gave it a liqu of paint inside and some
new curtains, and look, I can testify I've been there

(04:45):
on many occasions. I did need something of an upgrade,
can tell you.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, very good. Hey, thank you so much. Great to
see you, Barry Senior political correspondent Barry Sober.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
There for more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Listen live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm
weekd or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.