NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Nat man co-funded Jones' Labour bid

Claire Trevett
By Claire Trevett
Political Editor, NZ Herald·NZ Herald·
21 Apr, 2014 04:15 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Shane Jones was given $1000 for his leadership campaign by Sir Wira Gardiner. Photo / Doug Sherring

Shane Jones was given $1000 for his leadership campaign by Sir Wira Gardiner. Photo / Doug Sherring

'You're joking' - Prime Minister rocked by top National supporter's cash gift to help political foe's campaign.

Labour MP Shane Jones' party leadership bid was part-funded by a cash donation from Sir Wira Gardiner, husband of National Party Cabinet minister Hekia Parata.

Mr Jones revealed to the Herald that Sir Wira gave $1000 and NZ Oil and Gas board member Rodger Finlay also donated money to help the MP to pay for his campaign to win the Labour leadership last September.

Ms Parata did not learn about the donation until last night.

Sir Wira told the Herald he was still a "paid-up Tory", but wanted to encourage Maori leadership.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sir Wira Gardiner. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mr Jones said both men approached him offering donations, which were to have remained confidential until it was realised that donations of more than $500 had to be revealed in the MPs' register of pecuniary interests, due out next month.

Mr Jones said he was "a little surprised" to get money from Sir Wira, who has longstanding links with the National Party.

He briefly paused before accepting because of how it might look to the public and the Labour Party.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"But after a nanosecond, I never gave it any more thought. I'm sure it will raise a few eyebrows, but that's Maoris and parties for you."

He and Sir Wira were not close friends, although they they had served together on the Fisheries Commission for a short time.

He did not know if Ms Parata knew about the donation.

"I think Wira has always had peripheral vision and he's always been pro-Maori in all his endeavours. Although that makes him, for a brief period of time, a benefactor, it doesn't mean Hekia is in any way my benefactrix."

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Act Party announces deputy leader

15 Apr 01:28 AM
New Zealand|politics

Labour's new transport plans

15 Apr 04:15 PM
Opinion

Fran O'Sullivan: Collins row a distraction from the real issue

18 Apr 04:15 PM
New Zealand|politics

Turia hits out at Labour

20 Apr 06:04 AM

Prime Minister John Key was taken by surprise when told last night of Sir Wira's donation, initially responding, "You're joking."

"I'm somewhere between surprised and shocked," he said.

"Sir Wira has had a long-term desire to see Maori succeed into leadership positions.

"I can only guess that was his motivation, rather than support for the Labour Party."

Sir Wira told the Herald he gave the money because he believed it was important to encourage Maori leadership. His support for National had not changed.

He had not told Ms Parata about the donation and she found out about it only last night. It had caused some upset to her and he had apologised.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I gave it from a Maori context and I didn't think, 'Shane is going for the Labour leadership, or is opposed to National or he's an opponent of my wife's in the House'.

"I did what I've always done, and that is support Maori leadership.

"While I'm a political animal in the sense I'm a National Party supporter, I'm more driven by kaupapa Maori. I know what campaigns cost and it's not a cheap thing to do. So I just decided to do it and I did it."

Mr Jones is known for his strong pro-mining stance in Labour but said he had never met Mr Finlay before his cash offer.

He is now Labour's economic development spokesman and has a leading role in forming the party's mining policy. He denied the donation would have any effect on that or that it had prompted his attacks on the Green Party, saying his views on mining were longstanding and he had always been critical of the Greens' position.

Mr Finlay had not indicated he had any expectations.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The thing he mostly spoke to me about was the importance of biculturalism, and someone who could be straight up and talk about Pakeha things to Maori and Maori things to Pakeha."

Mr Jones said money left over from his campaign totalled more than $1000, and was given to the Labour Party, as required by its rules.

The MPs' annual register of pecuniary interests is to be released next month and Labour leader David Cunliffe's entry is expected to include leadership campaign donations made to the trust he used to take donations to avoid disclosing them to the party.

Shane Jones' backers

Sir Wira Gardiner: donated $1000

• Husband of National Party Cabinet minister Hekia Parata
• Former National Party Maori vice-president, and ran for president in 2009
• Fix-it man for National and Labour governments
• Labour used him for the foreshore and seabed hui and as facilitator for the Treelords settlement.
• National used him to lead hui on its assets-sale programme
• Knighted in 2008 for services to Maori.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Rodger Finlay: donated an unspecified amount.

• South Island-resident company director and investor
• Directorships include NZ Oil and Gas, the Public Trust, PGG Wrightsons, Agritech, Moeraki Ltd.
• NZ Oil and Gas is working the Tui and Kupe oil and gas fields
• The company also has interests in several mining exploration permits.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Politics

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM
New Zealand

Man sentenced for taking boy to secluded spot and photographing him without togs on

10 Jul 08:00 AM
New Zealand

State of emergency declared for Tasman region, severe weather warnings across NZ

10 Jul 07:04 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

Te Pāti Māori selects former broadcaster for Tāmaki Makaurau byelection

10 Jul 08:58 AM

Move comes after MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp died last month.

Man sentenced for taking boy to secluded spot and photographing him without togs on

Man sentenced for taking boy to secluded spot and photographing him without togs on

10 Jul 08:00 AM
State of emergency declared for Tasman region, severe weather warnings across NZ

State of emergency declared for Tasman region, severe weather warnings across NZ

10 Jul 07:04 AM
‘Lock all your doors’: Neighbours recount gunman on loose after Hamilton homicide

‘Lock all your doors’: Neighbours recount gunman on loose after Hamilton homicide

10 Jul 07:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP