But although Jones got Irish eyes smiling, his charm didn’t extend to Fonterra chairman John Wilson, who on the same day suffered a pitbull-type verbal attack by Jones.
Jones said he was “fed up” with the dairy giant believing it is bigger than it really is.
He claimed Fonterra has become disconnected from farmers and said Wilson should “catch the next cab out of town”.
And Jones’ broadside was aimed at more than Fonterra; he also took a swipe at KPMG, host of the function he was speaking at.
“KPMG’s ability to pronounce Maori words is hopeless: they mangled [Associate Minister of Agriculture] Whaitiri’s name. One day, when Maori agribusiness grows in wealth, maybe they will pronounce those names as good as the late Howard Morrison did,” he said.
