Shane Jones: 'I'm not going to make any rash decisions'

Shane Jones. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

Labour MP Shane Jones has no intention of quitting politics right now, but will soon give more serious consideration to his future.

"I don't expect to earn a public salary and wander around under the ti trees and the kauri gums up north doing jack, but I just need a bit of time to sort things out," the demoted former minister told a press conference.

"I'm not going to make any rash decisions."

But he said time on the backbenches was not what he envisioned when he entered Parliament.

"My waka's certainly going to be in the backwaters, but hey, I put myself there. Whether I've got the power, the strength, to paddle my waka anywhere else, time will tell.

"This is a time where I shouldn't appear to belligerent or arrogant. I've done wrong ... and I need to take the time to build and earn the trust of my colleagues, not to create any drama for the leader ... he's made his call and I'm not going to quibble over it.

"But any suggestion that I'm going to quit immediately or in the foreseeable future is just reading too much into my words."

He did not want to say anything that might cause any drama for his colleagues, said Mr Jones.

"I don't want to quibble. He's the leader. It's the day for the leader to show mettle. He's made his decision.

"Phil's made his call. It's the call of our leader. And when you're in a leadership position, you have to bloody well lead."

He did not want to comment on whether he will still have a portfolio.

"I put myself in this situation. I am quite a hot-blooded individual. I say it as it is. I've done wrong. You can't throw punches unless you can stand there and bloody well absorb them and that's what, unfortunately, I am having to endure."