Forget the porn-movie shame, Shane Jones is on the way up again

Shane Jones. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Disgraced Labour MP Shane Jones is set to be returned to glory by party leader Phil Goff in a reshuffle early this year.

He is tipped to be handed the Maori Affairs portfolio and placed on the frontbench as Labour prepares its lineup for the election.

In June, Mr Jones was stripped of all of his shadow portfolios and demoted as punishment for using his ministerial credit card while in government for personal purchases, including porn movies at hotels, the costs of which he later repaid.

Although applauded for his repentance, Mr Jones has remained on the backbenches since.

But Mr Goff, when asked if the country could expect to see the return of Mr Jones in the planned New Year reshuffle, said: "Absolutely."

He indicated changes would be made to the frontbench. Mr Jones is expected to benefit from those, as is first-term MP Grant Robertson.

Other first-termers understood to have impressed the Labour leader are Jacinda Ardern, Kelvin Davis and Stuart Nash.

Mr Jones plans to stand against Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples in Auckland's Tamaki Makaurau seat, and getting the spokesmanship - currently held by the former minister, Parekura Horomia - would allow him to tackle his Maori Party opponent head-on.

However, that could depend on whether Mr Horomia decides to leave politics in 2011. He and former Cabinet minister Nanaia Mahuta are both understood to be pondering whether to stand again, and Labour's leadership will be wary of upsetting Mr Horomia, who holds one of only two Maori electorates Labour has kept from the Maori Party.

Mr Goff would not be drawn on which individuals would be promoted but said he would base his decisions on the progress MPs had made in getting new policy together and holding the government to account. "And I'll be looking for the best people for the job who have the energy, enthusiasm and commitment and the ability to do it."

Mr Goff said he was also hoping increased media attention on him in election year would improve his own performance in the opinion polls.

He was expecting a late-November election, after the Rugby World Cup. "If the government goes before November it will be a vote of no confidence in the All Blacks and that would be unwise, or a sign of panic that the economy is failing to deliver."