Resources Minster Shane Jones has pulled out of a debate on a controversial Otago goldmine, bemusing would-be opponent Sir Ian Taylor.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I was looking forward to stepping into the boxing ring with the crowing rooster, but it looks like he\u2019s lost his voice,\u2019\u2019 Sir Ian said.<\/p>\n
The Dunedin businessman said he was committed to holding the debate regardless, complete with a cardboard cutout of Mr Jones.<\/p>\n
Sir Ian and Mr Jones have increasingly traded blows in the media over Santana Minerals\u2019 proposed Bendigo gold mine and its inclusion in the fast-track process, culminating in Mr Jones last month proposing a debate on the matter.<\/p>\n
This month, both men confirmed they would take part in a debate centred on the mine, set down for April 8.<\/p>\n
However, in a video posted to Facebook yesterday, Mr Jones pulled the pin, saying he would not take part in any debate \u2018\u2018controlled by the Otago media, driven by Sir Ian and the knobs he has on his laptop\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
In a \u2018\u2018wee poem about bad Sir Ian\u2019\u2019, and referring to himself in the third-person as \u2018\u2018matua\u2019\u2019 throughout, Mr Jones said Sir Ian was looking to control the narrative.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018You do not have the right to demand that Shane Jones play by rules designed to suit you and the small echo chamber that you are a lapdog for, people who hate jobs, people who pull up the ladder, people who are unwilling to trade off and create a minerals-rich future for Kiwis.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018As I said, you create the public space, the matua will debate anyone, anywhere, but I won\u2019t be secreted, concealed in a windowless room for the Otago media or you.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Have a nice day.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Jones\u2019 office confirmed to the\u00a0Otago Daily Times\u00a0the minister had pulled out of the debate.<\/p>\n
Sir Ian said the move was \u2018\u2018incredibly strange\u2019\u2019, particularly as Mr Jones laid down the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018All I was saying is why are we fast tracking [the mine] when it appears that the risks may outweigh the rewards,\u2019\u2019 Sir Ian said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Let\u2019s have that debate and you may be able to convince me that it\u2019s a good idea.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He said the debate was to be held in a studio at his Animation Research business in Dunedin, with free live-streams available through the\u00a0ODT, national media group Stuff and video-hosting platform Vimeo.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018So this wasn\u2019t a squirreling away in a little room on our own,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It was a debate where I had quite a few questions to ask the matua and he probably had some to ask me.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
He said he was confused by Mr Jones\u2019 comments on \u2018\u2018Otago media\u2019\u2019, given the live-stream would have been readily accessible from several national outlets.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018This is being streamed free to the world for any reporter to comment on. Here it is, it\u2019s free. Go for it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Jones, also Fisheries Minister, was forced into a U-turn earlier this week over plans to scrap most minimum size limits for commercial fishers, which he said was the outcome of conversations with NZ First leader Winston Peters.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018My question to Matua Jones is, has [Mr Peters also] spoken to you about this debate and told you, \u2018you get out of it any way you can?\u2019,\u2019\u2019 Sir Ian said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018His way of getting out of it is to write a poem.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The debate would go ahead regardless of Mr Jones, Sir Ian said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018If he doesn\u2019t turn up for the debate, there will be an empty chair in the debating chamber, and we will stream it live to anyone who wants to watch and I will ask the questions that I would have asked him if he was brave enough to turn up.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I won\u2019t go so far as making an AI digital twin of him, which we could do. We won\u2019t go that far. It\u2019ll probably just be a little cardboard cutout.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n