Mr Jones was in Dunedin on Wednesday as part of a function to celebrate the listing of Oceana-Gold on the New York Stock Exchange.
He also ran into some protesters and in a brief exchange told them Otago was ‘‘empty’’.
On a social media posting, Mr Jones was pictured standing outside Sir Ian’s office in Dowling St.
He outlined how he would be open to a debate with Sir Ian over the merits of the proposed Santana Minerals gold mine in Bendigo.
He had agreed to a debate, which was set for April 8, only to pull out late last month, saying he would not carry out a debate which had been set up to cater for Sir Ian and the Otago media.
In the post, he said he wanted to have a debate but would only do it in front of a live audience of 500 people. He said Toitū Otago Settlers Museum would be the ideal venue, where the function took place on Wednesday night.
Mr Jones said yesterday the debate would be much better in front of a live audience. Sir Ian could not be contacted yesterday.
He said the event on Wednesday night was a good night in front of an appreciative crowd. He bumped into four or five protesters when leaving the venue who gave him a voodoo doll of himself. It did not have a left arm.
‘‘That is fair enough as I am more of a right-leaning politician. It was sort of chaotic when I got out there.’’
The protesters scoffed at him when he said Otago was empty.
When asked yesterday about the empty comment, Mr Jones could not stop himself taking a swipe at one of his favourite targets.
‘‘Well with the size of the Otago Regional Council down there you would think it would be the size of a small European Union country.
‘‘But what have you got down there? About 220,000-230,000. It is quite sparsely populated. But people need to be appreciative of the developments we have down there.’’
The 2023 census had the Otago population at just over 240,000.
Mr Jones said he seemed to be the only one talking facts around the Santana Minerals proposal.
‘‘I have said all along it is about trade-offs. Ability for mitigation measures to take place. The proposal will bring a huge increase in lizards.’’
He said at the moment the score seemed to be moths one, people nil, as other parties pushed for protection for rare creatures.
Mr Jones said the country did not have the luxury of turning away economic opportunities in these pressing times.
Protester Bruce Mahalski said the empty comment just showed the arrogance of Mr Jones.
As a conservationist, he said the site of the proposed mine was far from empty with rare plants and species, which needed protection. He questioned the amount of power Mr Jones had considering the votes he gained when standing for Parliament.
