Shane Jones jokes 'it's probably the day' for coalition deal

New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones has joked that as it has been 40 days since the election, it's "probably the day" coalition talks conclude.

Asked by one reporter outside Treasury if today was the day New Zealand would be "put out of its misery", Jones asked: "Is it 40 days?"

The reporter agreed it was. Today is the 40th day since October 14, the date of the general election.

Jones then paraphrased from a verse from Exodus in the Bible which is: "So Moses was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments."

"So it's probably the day."

He then proffered a gift of a "Pay Day" chocolate bar to the reporter.

Asked if they were "government formation gifts", Jones said it was.

Jones said "on a more serious note" he had been contacted by "a few of our Māori whānau and other people in Auckland" who he said were concerned Auckland would "go into a lockdown" over the death of a Head Hunters figure.

"This chap Hines [William ‘Bird’ Hines], a very dangerous criminal, has passed away. His death, we fear, may be turned into a celebration where Head Hunters gang command the streets and block Auckland.

"I want to say that I personally have every confidence in police leaders like Wally Haumaha and other cops to ensure that Aucklanders are not intimidated in what will be a massive gang tangi, arguably the biggest that we've seen.

"But look, there's a new regime on the way, and we do not want a repeat of the fiasco that we saw in Ōpōtiki. Obviously, people are free to assemble but no more intimidation, no more manipulation of tangi and Māori culture to hide the very dangerous, thuggish, criminalistic, murdering ways of these gangs."

Jones said mourners should be able to assemble but within the law.

He said some Māori told him they resented that, in his view, Te Pāti Māori and the Green Party "continually use colonisation as an excuse for gang culture".

"I know there are tales of woefulness but I personally have taken a very strong line against gangs since I watched their insidious influence in Tai Tokerau."

He said there was a need for a "greater sense of security" which he said would not happen unless the police were given the moral support and resources to deliver it.