Outspoken NZ First Minister Shane Jones has blasted Gisborne's Ngāti Oneone Hapū

NZ First Minister Jones told the Herald today that he was "thoroughly hacked off that the application to extend Gisborne's Port had been undermined by local Hapū." Photo / John Stone

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has blasted a hapū in Gisborne for its opposition to the expansion of the region's main port.

Speaking to the Herald, Jones went as far as saying representatives from Ngāti Oneone need to go to the local brain research centre as "they obviously need help".

It comes just weeks after the outspoken New Zealand First MP said iwi opposition to a section of Hawke's Bay state highway being sealed was "hillbilly thinking".

Jones told the Herald today that he was "thoroughly hacked off that the application to extend Gisborne's Port had been undermined by local hapū".

Gisborne Port operator Eastland Group has been looking to expand for a decade but the plan has been met with opposition from Ngāti Oneone.

An appeal to the port's expansion has delayed work but mediation between the parties involved is now under way.

But Jones was far from impressed with Ngāti Oneone's opposition.

"I think what I'll do when I go to Gisborne, I will ask the brain researchers to meet with the hapū – they obviously need help."

Jones was referring to the Gisborne's new Matai Medical Research centre, which was provided $6 million through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) this morning.

It focuses on "traumatic brain injuries".

Jones said the Ngāti Oneone's opposition to the Port's expansion was standing in the way of greater employment opportunities in the region and that the Resource Management Act (RMA) has become a "plaything for hapū mischief-makers".

"Hapū activists cannot be allowed to get a free pass in this type of concern.

"We're never going to develop in a broad sense these regions if we don't improve our infrastructure."

This is not the first time Jones has taken aim at Māori opposition to project developments in the Hawke's Bay area.

Last month he criticised Ngāi Tūhoe for opposing the sealing of a 10km road on State Highway 38 – the project had been given $10 million from the PGF.

Jones said that Tūhoe needed to accept that, post-Treaty settlement, it can no longer throw its weight around and alienate its neighbours.

"That is why the road needs to continue. This type of hillbilly thinking is totally irrelevant to my political mission and I am not indulging it one inch."

A spokesman for Ngāti Oneone has been approached for comment.