March 26, 2018
Jones heartened by provincial support
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says he's heartened by the support from mayors and people in the provinces for his criticism of Air New Zealand.
Mr Jones was hauled back by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week for calling for the national airline's chairman and chief executive to go after they pushed back on his call for a rethink of the company's policy of dropping service to smaller population centres.
He says he accepts he has no part to play in the composition of the company's board or executive, but his job is to address the long term neglect of the regions, and one of the major issues is getting people in and out for work or play.
"Look our party, New Zealand First, we don't care for corporate aristocracy. The way in which New Zealand's upper executive culture is portrayed, it doesn't resonate well with us. This is an organisation that is trading as being a champion of New Zealand. You can't champion New Zealand when you are trashing the areas of New Zealand that are disproportionately larger generators of our foreign exchange earnings," Mr Jones says.
Her says people remember the crown bailed out Air New Zealand when it went bust and it still owns a majority of its shares.
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