New Zealand First’s Northland candidate Shane Jones says he and leader Winston Peters stand by sacked Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon – whom they know as a man of integrity.
The reo-speaking former Gisborne mayor was made to stand down over for allegedly not declaring a conflict of interest.
Mr Jones says he’s no fan of Mr Foon’s former boss, Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt, whom he believes had a strained relationship with the former Race Relations Conciliator.
“There’s an agenda floating around there somewhere. He’s obviously fallen out with the pommy fella – and even if he finds the necessary paperwork, to assure everyone that he never hid the fact that he was a director of a company that owned motels and offered social housing – the deeper issue is that he is no longer welcome in that role,” he says.
Mr Jones doesn’t believe the matter is a closed book yet – and hopes Meng Foon can rescue his reputation.
