Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Resources Minister Shane Jones refuses to answer fresh questions about an undeclared dinner on the South Island's West Coast which, newly released emails reveal, was arranged by his staff.
The February 16 dinner - now added to Jones' ministerial diary - was mentioned in a letter by Barry Bragg, deputy chair of Stevenson Group, requesting the coal mining company's Te Kuha project be included in the government's controversial fast-track regime.
Initially, Jones told Newsroom the dinner was "very much a last-minute thing, because I was in the middle of nowhere".
He corrected the record the following day, saying the dinner was arranged in advance, with two other participants - Bathurst Resources chief executive Richard Tacon, and Federation Mining vice president Simon Delander.
Why didn't it make the ministerial diary? Jones said in May: "To be honest with you, less conspiracy more cock-up - and inattention in our office." His staff would update the ministerial diary and tighten its administration, he promised.
He repeated those lines when questioned by media on 27 June.
Now, emails released to Newsroom under official information legislation reveal it was the minister's staff who made the initial approach.
"Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Resources, is in Westport on Friday February 16 and was wondering if you would like to join him for dinner along with other mining sector people," Jones' private secretary John Doorbar wrote to Bragg, Tacon and Delander on 12 February.
"This is an informal dinner, and it would be appreciated if you could pick up your share of the costs if you attend."
The invitees were asked to confirm their attendance, or advise if someone else from their company would accept the invitation.
The 2018 Cabinet paper regarding the proactive release of ministerial diaries said: "The summary would include all meetings with external parties in the minister's ministerial capacity that have been recorded in the diary."
Newsroom asked Jones' office how he could have described the dinner as "last-minute", and whether its status as "informal" was an attempt to dodge disclosure rules. Also, how often did his staff organise "informal" meetings?
Jones' press secretary Lucy Bennett said on Monday: "As Minister Jones told journalists on 27 June, the omission of the dinner from his diary was cock-up rather than conspiracy and it has now been fixed in the diary. The matter is now closed."
Nicola Toki, chief executive of conservation group Forest & Bird, says there are no informal meetings when you're a Cabinet minister, with responsibilities to the public. As the minister approached the mining industry about having dinner, she dubs it reverse lobbying.
"Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and one of the things that New Zealand has been able to pride itself in, and has an international reputation for, is transparency and lack of corruption, particularly in government.
"Unfortunately, this kind of behaviour chips away at that reputation and has consequences that are beyond a dinner on the West Coast with some mining buddies."
Josie Vidal, chief executive of mining industry lobby group Straterra, says media have "made much of very little" regarding the dinner.
"It is entirely appropriate for the minister to meet people informally as he travels around the country.
"This dinner was early in the coalition Government's term, shortly after the makeup of the Government was confirmed, and an excellent opportunity for industry engagement for a recently elected minister.
"Ministers take advice from many corners so one dinner does not give people any kind of extraordinary advantage."
Newsroom asked for comment from Bragg, Tacon and Delander but didn't hear back on Monday.
Other emails disclosed by Jones' office show the minister's ongoing relationship with the mining industry.
When told by Doorbar that Jones was planning a trip to the West Coast in March, Federation Mining's Delander wrote on February 20: "We did indicate to the minister on Friday evening that Bathurst and Federation are happy to share the cost of a helicopter to move between sites to cut down travel time and allow a good overview of the mining on the coast."
In April, Doorbar told Delander that Jones was delivering a "key speech" on 23 May entitled "Minerals - The Future". "I wanted to give you a heads up and invite you to the event but also to ask if the minister could make a visit to Snowy River mine on the morning of 23 May?"
Delander replied: "Very happy to accommodate the minister's visit."
Doorbar's email from 12 February casts an interesting light on Jones' earlier comments.
The minister said on 27 June some engagements didn't need to be included in his diary.
"It depends what pōtae I wear. A pōtae is a cap. Some caps are New Zealand First, some caps are ministerial. Some matters are not declared … in the diary because they represent the political connections between New Zealand First and the other governing parties.
"I do think that meetings that take place are not always ministerial, and conflicts of interest are important - however it can be catastrophised as well."
Yet, the 16 February dinner - only disclosed after Newsroom's reporting - was arranged by the minister's private secretary, using their Parliament email address, conveying an invite from "Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Resources".
For the sake of completeness, the 16 February dinner was held at Westport's Donaldo's Cafe and Beach Bar, which charges $36.50 for ribeye steak, $38.50 for surf and turf, and $34.50 for a seafood platter.
The Te Kuha coal project, near Westport, was previously blocked by environmental protections. Photo: Neil Silverwood
Controversy has dogged the government's fast-track bill, or one-stop shop approvals scheme, for concentrating power in three ministers - Jones, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop, and Transport Minister Simeon Brown - and raising the potential for corruption.
Last month, thousands of people took to Auckland's streets in a protest organised by environmental groups, who accuse the government of a war on nature.
More than 27,000 written submissions were made to the environment select committee, including a submission from Auditor General John Ryan which said: "Given the significance of the decision-making powers in this Bill, I encourage the committee to consider additional statutory requirements to strengthen the management of ministerial conflicts of interest."
Asked on 27 June if he was too cosy with mining executives, Jones said he talked to as many people as possible, and described himself as a "pro-industry champion". He dismissed criticism of the undeclared dinner as minor details and political games.
University of Otago law professor Andrew Geddis draws parallels between Jones' lack of disclosure and the situation involving former Labour minister Stuart Nash, who Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier found improperly withheld emails in which he discussed confidential Cabinet discussions with two political donors.
Boshier said the roles of MPs and ministers potentially overlap. "The key question in each instance is whether the information was held by the relevant individual in their capacity as a minister of the Crown."
The aforementioned 2018 Cabinet paper said ministerial diaries weren't official information but they contained information that was.
"The routine compilation and release of a summary of this official information could assist those interested in the work of ministers to focus their requests for further information, which may reduce the administrative burden in responding to routine requests."
Geddis says: "Consequently, when a minister holds a dinner (even an 'informal' one on a pay-as-you-go basis) with an industry representative, it ought to be diarised so that the public is able to see who the minister is meeting with and on what matters.
"I note that the ministerial nature of this event is made even more evident in that the invitation extends to 'you or someone else' [from the company] - it was a dinner arranged with representatives of the company as representatives of that company, not with someone that Shane Jones may have had previous friendly relationship with and is just catching up with in a personal capacity."
Vidal, of Straterra, says it's important to have a resources minister who wants to engage directly with miners to hear about their opportunities and issues. The minister is "very engaged", she says, and has visited mines - "put on a hard hat and gone underground, and been very receptive to expanding his industry knowledge".
"As Members of Parliament, elected to represent the people, it is entirely appropriate for MPs and ministers - with specific portfolio responsibilities - to get out and about and talk to the people they represent. It beats sitting in the ivory towers of Wellington and other cities and pontificating without knowledge."
Toki, of Forest & Bird, brings the narrative back to the fast-track legislation.
She says her organisation, and thousands of other submitters, have criticised the lack of separation between ministers and lobbyists and developers, leaving them open to accusations of conflicts of interest, or at the least the perceptions of conflicts.
"That's bad for New Zealand democracy."
While the minister initially didn't declare an "informal" meeting with the mining industry, Toki notes when Forest & Bird branch members formally registered to attend a public meeting in Blackball called by Jones they were blocked by a police officer.
"He's not even trying to pretend to be even-handed."
There's an irony, Toki says, in the public being potentially blocked from having a say on fast-tracked developments when a minister is actively seeking the views of the mining industry.
"It appears that the minister is absolutely picking favourites."
- This story was first published by Newsroom