Jeremy Wells: Radio Hauraki Host pays tribute to Sir Bob Jones

Sir Bob Jones has died at the age of 85 and being remembered for the splash he made in New Zealand politics. 

He died peacefully at his Wellington home surrounded by family after a brief illness.  

In 1984, he launched the New Zealand Party to protest Robert Muldoon's National Party Government, winning 12.5% of the vote in 1984. 

Radio Hauraki Host Jeremy Wells told Matt Heath and Tyler Adams that Jones loomed large over the political landscape, and New Zealand landscape as a whole. 

Jones always gave people his time, Wells says, and his stories were second to none. 

“He was a great raconteur, an amazing conversationalist, even if at times it was more of a listening exercise for the other person involved in the conversation – you we’re definitely happy to listen.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from news Talk z'd be
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Frominent businessman, author and former politicians. Sir Robert Edward Jones,
better known as Sir Bob Jones, has died five year old.
Died peacefully adis Wellington Homes, surrounded by family after a
brief illness. And a man that's had a quite a
bit to do with Bob Jones over the years as
seven Sharp and Radiohodechi host Jeremy Wells. Welcome to the show, Yoday.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
Matte good o'kyler.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
How are you, Jeremiary Guard? So how did you first
get to know Sir.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Bob well Years ago? I was doing a show called
Eating Media Lunch and a lot of it used to
be archive based, and when we'd look at some archives stuff,
Bob Jones featured very, very heavily, particularly through the nineteen
seventies and then into the nineteen eighties, the early to
mid nineteen eighties with performation of the New Zealand Party,

(01:02):
and so he was a heland large over the New
zealk political landscape that just opened in landscape as a whole.
So we thought it'd be a great person to reach
out and talk to it. When you did reach out
to Bob Jones, this is the thing. You call him
up on his landline at home, and he's always on
to the phone and he'd have a chat to you,
and he always gave you time. And so I was

(01:24):
very real lucky that he gave me a bit of
time over the years, and I got to inter him
a few times and got to go to his house
and all sorts of stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
What was he like to spend time worth personally outside
of the public image.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Well, he was incredibly affable and very hospitable when you
went to his house. I went over there once and
he made lunch for us. Well he didn't make lunch,
but has made lunch for us and he was walking around.
He shared so much of himself. He was a great wreck,
an amazing conversationalist, even if at times it was more

(02:01):
of a listening exercise for the other person involved in
the conversation. You were definitely happy to listen because his
stories were second I mean, his Muldoon's stories were next level.
Because of course he was great mates with Muldon and
then formed the New Zealand Party in nineteen eighty three
because he didn't believe what Muldoon was doing was right
and essentially split the vote and really changed New Zealand history.

(02:22):
I mean, is there a man who's changed New Zealand
politics more? I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
It would have been a very different country if Muldoon
had got back. And you've told me a great story
in the past that that's I think's hilarious. And you
and Sir Bob Jones are smoking cigars and a TV
in Z studio long after that was the considered an
absolute crime.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
It was set up an interview with him and we
thought it would be good to do it like a
nineteen seventies interview in black and white, so we created
a set that looked like a nineteen seventies set, and
then we approached TV and Z of course strict no
smoking rules of TV and zed in the studios in
the late nineties early two thousands understandably, but we asked
for an exemption and in a strange tournam events, they

(03:10):
allowed us to smoke cigars and the studio. I don't
think that'll ever happen again. So we drank red wine
chatted away. The planned interview was about half an hour long,
went for an hour and a half because once Bob
started talking, he couldn't stop them, and we ended up
polishing off two bottles of wine. Next thing you know,
he said to me, he goes, Jeremy, I've got to
go and meet Barrymore. So you come with me. You're

(03:31):
coming with me. We're going to meet Barrymore. I've got
to go and do a speech. And the blah, I mean,
he was, you know, he's a couple of bottles of
wine deep. Next thing you know, I'm out, I'm going
out to Barrymore's house with them. He's dragging me around
somewhere else. But that's the kind of guy he was.
He as soon as he kind of sussed you out
quite quickly, and if he decided that he liked you,
after that, there was nothing he didn't share.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean, I've heard stories of people banging on
the doors of that studio trying to get in because
even though it was sanctioned that you could be smoking cigars,
only not the whole company was buying.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
Yeah. Well, once we went to his Wellington office and
he invited us up there for drinks, and so we
went up there and as a huge office. I mean
it's a giant but big drinks cabinet and poured us
a glass of wine and then I saw I said
that do you make He had a huge balcony. I said,
you mind if I go and have a cigarette. The
balcony is nate. You must smoke inside. I said no,

(04:26):
I'd rather smoke outside of smoking at the time. He
said no, no, no, I insist you have to smoke inside.
He forced you to smoke inside. He was very funny's
a sad loss, and I feel for his family.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
So, uh, Jeremy, we've had We've had a someone textrow
and that news said Bob Jones, and has put the
man in order in this fashion. And see if you
agree with that? He said, businessman, drinker, politician, author, boxing fan, drinker, philanthropist, smoker.
Would you agree with that order?

Speaker 3 (05:01):
He definitely did all of those things. Tricky tricky to
know which order to put them in. I think it
sort of depends on how how he was feeling at
the time. I think at one stage we went around
to his place and he said, I've given up the
bozer dot just told me that's not good for me.
And then by about by about an hour into it,
he said, should we crack into a red So we're

(05:22):
having a glass of glass of red wine. But yeah,
a really good guy and one of the one of
the last people. I don't think we'll ever see another
person like Bob Jones, and there's no doubt about that
absolute icon.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Jeremy, thanks for having a yet with us. We'll catch
up again soon.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
That is Jeremy Wells, who was a great fan of
s Bob Jones. For more from News Talk said, b
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