The New Zealand First deputy leader spoke to about 250 people at a public meeting in the St Kevin’s College auditorium, appealing to the older generation.
‘‘Experience, judgement and tenacity counts for a lot,’’ he told the crowd.
‘‘Please don’t buy into the mythology that somehow people with a bit of grey hair, with a bit of experience under their belt are no longer relevant to the challenges that New Zealand faces.’’
If elected, NZ First would abolish the Waitangi Tribunal, regional councils and take the country out of ‘‘climate change hysteria’’, he said, which elicited applause from the crowd.
‘‘We will be fixing the hospitals and the roads and the bridges of New Zealand before we spend a bloody dollar on climate change overseas.’’
The party would campaign to ‘‘cut the power of the Aussie-owned banks’’ and ‘‘shrink the cost of electricity with wide-ranging reforms’’.
Mr Jones also took shots at his colleagues in Wellington.
He said the country had ‘‘learnt the lesson and will never be installing a Labour-Greens government ever’’ after Dame Jacinda Ardern’s two-term tenure.
Mr Jones also took questions from the crowd about water infrastructure, oil and gas drilling and the pension age, among other topics.
NZ First’s newly announced Waitaki candidate, Otago regional councillor Michael Laws, was also present, albeit not on stage with Mr Jones.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times after the event, Mr Laws said he wanted to ‘‘unleash Waitaki’’ from being held back by bureaucracy.
‘‘The Waitakis of this world are keeping New Zealand alive. If it wasn’t for tourism and agriculture, New Zealand would be a hole in the ground at the moment.’’
