In public, Shane Jones plays the role of a populist, repeatedly railing against the use of migrant labour.
But it has emerged that in 2018, Jones privately lobbied a Cabinet colleague on behalf of an associate who was seeking accredited employer status from Immigration New Zealand.
The high profile NZ First MP appears to have done so after he had been briefed that the company, owned by former Whangārei Mayor Stan Semenoff, faced investigation by the safety regulator which could see it ordered off the road. Jones has also become involved in that case, raising accusations of interfering with a government prosecution.
Conferred by Immigration New Zealand, accredited employer statuswould have streamlined the process of hiring migrants for Stan Semenoff Logging, a large Northland log truck company, such as bypassing the need to check if Kiwi workers are available when hiring.
In written Parliamentary questions, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said Jones visited him in his Beehive office on August 20 to raise Semenoff’s application for accredited employer status.
It appears the meeting was unscheduled.
If the status had been granted, Semenoff could have hired foreign truck drivers “without first having to check if any New Zealanders can do the work”, according to Immigration New Zealand’s website.
In return, accredited employers “must take direct responsibility for the workers you employ” and pay a base salary of at least $55,000.
It does not appear that Jones’ efforts to assist Semenoff were – or even could have been – successful.
Lees-Galloway checked with Immigration New Zealand and was told the application had been turned down four days before Jones met him.
“This decision was an operational one …[which] is not subject to Ministerial Discretion or other override.”
After an official from Jones’ office wrote seeking an update, Lees-Galloway’s office later called Jones “to explain that I had no ability to override the decision”.
Days earlier, Jones and some of his ministerial colleagues had been briefed on NZTA’s possible action against Semenoff, which came to a head earlier this year.
Jones and Semenoff have both spoken publicly about the fact that they are related in the past, although Jones has recently downplayed how close the link is as he faced questions about becoming involved in the case of the transport regulator against Semenoff’s company.
Jones did not respond to requests for an interview or provide answers to written questions.
In a statement, Lees-Galloway said Jones’ approach was “not out of the ordinary”. MPs often approached him about immigration cases “because of the availability of Ministerial discretion” however no such discretion existed in the area Jones raised.
Earlier this year Jones stepped into a legal battle between Semenoff and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA), which has taken action to revoke operating licences because of persistent safety concerns.
Jones raised the case directly with the chief executive of NZTA, while in a media interview, Jones warned of the potential economic ramifications if Semenoff is not able to operate. The company accounts for around half of all logging transport in the province.
In Parliament, Jones has made cryptic comments suggesting that NZTA’s lawyers have attempted to turn Filipino drivers into “pimps” or “informants”.
The case between NZTA and Semenoff returns to court in Auckland on Monday, after the trucking company won the right to challenge a decision by the regulator.
National’s regional economic development spokesman Paul Goldsmith said the meeting with Lees-Galloway was another example of Jones attempting to help Semenoff and should be explained in greater detail.
“It seems to be part of a pattern of inexplicable extra attention to this particular firm from Jones and I do think he needs to explain it a bit more,” Goldsmith said.
“There is a pattern now emerging of numerous attempts by the Minister [Jones] to lobby on their behalf, knowing that there was a pending investigation by NZTA,” Goldsmith said.
The Mayor and the Minister
Jones and Semenoff have talked about each other repeatedly.
Back in 2009, Jones explained away a $2000 donation from Semenoff, then the mayor of Whangārei, as a koha from “my mother’s cousin”.
Within weeks of becoming a junior minister in the Helen Clark Government in 2008 (during his first term as an MP), Jones issued an official statement as Building and Construction Minister, shooting down Semenoff’s reported claims that extractor fans were compulsory in new homes.
In 2010, at around the same time as Jones was mired in an embarrassing expense scandal, Semenoff was “thrown out” (his words) as mayor of New Zealand’s northernmost city.
Three years later, he talked big words as he bid to get his job back, insisting his removal had delayed the Puhoi to Wellsford motorway.
He also talked up his friends in Wellington.
“This is why I talk about, we’ve got to get closer to the government of the day,” he said.
“If my cuzzie Shane [Jones], which we are cousins, should make the mark, we’ll certainly cuddle up to him.”
When Jones was asked about his relationship with Semenoff this year, his office briefly denied he had received a donation. It then played down the closeness of the relationship.
Semenoff’s “great, great grandmother is my mother’s great, great, great grandmother”, Jones said in Parliament. The pair shared a common ancestor in Victorian times, he said later.
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