Shane Jones helped spread the Marsden Point myth. He should own it

OPINION: For weeks, thisquality challenged New Zealand First candidate Billy Brown over the false claim that Labour “closed” or “approved shutting down” the Marsden Point Oil Refinery. The bigger problem has become impossible to ignore. Brown did not invent this political mythology in a vacuum, it was Shane Jones.

As thisquality has previously reported, the documentary record does not support the claim that Labour made the decision to close Marsden Point.

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Jones has been helping spread that myth from the top. Repeatedly told New Zealanders that Labour was responsible for closing Marsden Point, despite the documented record showing Refining NZ’s shareholders and board made the commercial decision to end refining and convert the site into an import terminal.

Image: Decommissioned oil refinery at Marsden Point, New Zealand. View from One Tree Point. The refinery operated from 1964 to 2022. (synthetick / Adobe Stock)

In November 2021, Refining NZ announced that its board had made the final investment decision after terms had been approved by shareholders.

That is not a Labour Government closure and instead was a private company decision.

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Jones repeatedly blurred that distinction.

In a New Zealand First post published on November 14, 2024, Jones claimed the “Labour Party cancelled and closed down the refinery”. The original New Zealand First post on LinkedIn records that claim. It is the same Marsden Point narrative thisquality has repeatedly challenged after Brown began pushing claims that Labour had shut down or approved the closure of the refinery.

Image: Shane Jones pushed the Marsden Point claim inside Parliament itself, only to be corrected by Speaker Gerry Brownlee, who told him Cabinet consideration did not amount to approval and urged him to “keep it straight for the public.” (Screenshot / Parliament Website)

On March 31 this year, Jones brought the claim into Parliament, saying the refinery had been “closed down with the approval of the Labour Government”. Speaker Gerry Brownlee immediately intervened, telling him that while Cabinet may have considered the issue, “consideration does not mean approval”, and instructed him to “keep it straight for the public”.

Jones still refused to let the claim die. He insisted the Cabinet paper showed Labour had “agreed to the closure of the refinery”, asking: “How can I possibly be wrong?” Brownlee corrected him again, saying the paper showed the former Government “chose not to support it remaining open”, which was “an entirely different proposition”.

That exchange should have killed the ‘Marsden Point myth’ stone dead. Instead, one of New Zealand First’s most senior figures continued giving political oxygen to a claim that his own party’s candidates would later repeat.

Jones had been publicly corrected by the Speaker of the House on the very distinction orbiting the false claim. He has flapped around the facts like a flatfish on a wharf, repeatedly pushing a version of events that collapses the moment it is tested against the documentary record.

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Labour was later accused by Jones of making a “reckless decision” in approving the closure. Hansard records the dispute over exactly how he was characterising the former Government’s role.

This is how political myths are manufactured.

Through the rapid spread of misinformation, a senior minister repeats a simplified and inaccurate claim often enough, other party candidates pick it up to give the argument a sense of legitimacy, their followers circulate it and eventually the slogan starts masquerading as historical fact.

Image: The documented ownership record points in another direction. Marsden Point was operated by the publicly listed Refining NZ, which became Channel Infrastructure when the site moved to import-terminal operations in April 2022. A Treasury OIA response later confirmed the refinery was not owned or operated by the Government and that the Crown held no shares in it at or around the time of its closure. (File. / Supplied / Facebook / Billy Brown)

Brown’s authorised campaign messaging did exactly that. As thisquality reported in a subsequent investigation, Brown continued pushing the claim that Labour approved shutting the refinery down, even after the factual basis of that allegation had been challenged.

Jones cannot wash his hands of that. He is one of the most senior voices in New Zealand First and one of the loudest politicians pushing this version of Marsden Point’s history. When candidates beneath him repeat the same false framing, responsibility runs upward as well as downward.

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The facts remain stubbornly unchanged.

Treasury confirmed the refinery was not owned or operated by the Government and that the Crown held no shares in it around the time of closure.

Labour can be condemned for refusing to intervene. It can be accused of making a terrible call on fuel security. Those are legitimate political arguments.

Saying Labour closed the refinery is not.

Jones should know better, particularly after being challenged publicly and in Parliament.

Image: NZ First candidate Billy Brown has falsely blamed Labour for approving the Marsden Point Oil Refinery shutdown, despite official records showing Refining NZ made the closure decision and Cabinet chose not to intervene. (New Zealand First)

This is no longer just about Brown repeating a bad talking point. It is about a senior minister helping create, legitimise and spread the very Marsden Point myth his party’s candidates now carry into an election campaign.

Jones helped give this falsehood political oxygen. He should stop repeating it and start telling New Zealanders what actually happened.

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