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Labour MP Shane Jones, who has been dogged recently by allegations that he gave citizenship to an international criminal in exchange for donations to the Labour Party, has entered a bill into the members’ ballot that would, if successful, provide free kittens to all.

Mr Jones, who attracted widespread ridicule two years ago after being forced to admit spending taxpayer money on renting pornographic films in a hotel room, says the bill will “completely update and modernise” New Zealand’s kitten legislation.

The bill will be a welcome distraction for Mr Jones, who was stood down from the shadow caucus and faced calls to resign after the citizenship scandal. Mr Jones was further besmirched by the involvement of former MP Chris Carter, who wrote a letter in support of Bill Liu’s citizenship application. Mr Carter was expelled from the Labour Party in 2010 after spending extravagantly on overseas travel, flowers and massages, courtesy of the taxpayer. It is believed that Mr Jones was aware of Mr Carter’s love of luxury, but did not disclose this to Parliament or the media.

Although Critic put questions to Mr Jones about the Chris Carter saga, these questions were avoided, ignored or deflected, with Jones insisting that his bill was the more important topic of conversation, considering that “over three thousand combined hours” had been put into sculpting the “revolutionary” 150-clause bill.

Mr Jones is no stranger to controversy. He attracted widespread condemnation after ripping up a letter of complaint addressed to him in his capacity as Select Committee Chair back in 2006. Now he says he is working with parties across the political spectrum in an attempt to win bipartisan support for his bill. Indeed, a group of prominent New Zealanders ranging from Richie McCaw to Corporal Willie Apiata have banded together to support the bill.

Mr Jones stormed out of the interview with Critic after taking exception to the question “How do you sleep at night, given that you said you would resign as a director of Te Ohu Kaimoana, the Maori Fisheries Trust, once you became an MP, but in reality you didn’t resign until more than a year after entering Parliament?” In Critic’s view, this latest display of petulance from Mr Jones demonstrates that he has not learned his lesson from his many scandals over the years. The interview provided the perfect platform for Mr Jones to promote his bill, but that opportunity went out the door along with the man himself.