Dean Jacqui; Sage EugenieHon JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): Thank you Mr Chair. I have several lines of questioning for the Minister. I first want to acknowledge the work that the Hon Eugenie Sage has been doing in the conservation space and also to acknowledge with gratitude the way in which the Minister is open to engaging with myself particularly over local issues. It is appreciated.My first line of questioning is around the Jobs for Nature programme which was announced and discussed at the Estimates for Vote Conservation—just noting that there was an allocation to the Department of Conservation (DOC) of $200 million to go through to 2022-23. That was establishing the Jobs for Nature fund and for DOC to partner with councils and tourism businesses iwi hapū and communities to provide temporary nature-based jobs. Now we know that those jobs will be for a period of up to three years. I am interested in not the nature of the jobs because the Minister set out those—so it was planting weed control wetland restoration that sort of thing. What I'm interested in is the fact that there is $200 million allocated. I would like to know and have an update on the percentage of that allocation which is going to different organisations by way of overheads which—I am interested in—would include things like training fees. Will there be new equipment necessary to be purchased? Will there be additional support for a workforce which essentially has gone from for example baristas to wetland restoration?Given the nature of these jobs which are temporary for a period what is the average period that the Minister is expecting people to stay in those jobs? Is it until tourism picks up enough again in Fiordland for example or in Queenstown or in Rotorua for example so that those baristas go back into the hospitality industry? What then? Is there another round of training? Is there another round of uniforms and kit? I would like the Minister to update us on the percentage of that $200 million which goes into all of those overheads versus the percentage which goes into shovels in the ground.Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Minister of Conservation): Thank you Mr Chair. Thank you for the question. The Department of Conservation was allocated $200 million as part of the Budget for Jobs for Nature. That is part of a much wider Government programme of $1.3 billion involving the Department of Conservation Land Information New Zealand the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry for Primary Industries. Those four agencies are working together in order to deliver 11000 jobs across Aotearoa.In terms of the programme within the department which has been renamed Kaimahi for Nature to separate it out from the more general Jobs for Nature those jobs as the member noted are expected to be temporary. Some of the jobs will be provided by businesses themselves and in the Queenstown area for example some of the tourism businesses' staff are being employed on track cutting and the like. In South Westland a number of former employees of tourism businesses in Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are out doing work like upgrading and maintaining the tracks.So where they're working for the department they're generally using the equipment that the department provides. There is on-the-job training for others who are employed by contractors. It has enabled some forestry contractors to increase the number of staff that they employ. They provide on-the-job training. And of course there is also the $1.6 billion which Government has made available for apprenticeships and trade and other training. So there is the ability to integrate with that.The department for its part of Jobs for Nature is working with other agencies for regional alliances working alongside regional councils hapū and iwi and community organisations to prioritise the types of jobs which should be delivered in the regions and to enable people to fit into those structures as well so they can also provide training.In terms of the average period the funding only started on 1 July. There have been some dozens of jobs provided already. If the member would like to put down a question for written answer we can provide the detail about the average period but it is expected that people will move through these jobs and go back into more permanent employment when tourism picks up or when other areas of the economy improve.Hon JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki): With regards to concession fees for tourism operators there was an announcement very shortly after the Estimates examination around—and some confusion which surrounded that because the Prime Minister appeared to announce that concessionaires didn't have to worry about paying any fees. Yet when the detail emerged the situation was quite different and concessionaires started to get accounts coming through the mail fairly soon after the announcement which seemed from this side of the Chamber to be a very unfortunate situation and quite undermining for the Minister where she I would understand was taking a slightly more pragmatic view. Yet the Prime Minister of the day announced something quite different.So leaving that embarrassment aside could the Minister outline to the Chamber—we understand that concession fees can include fixed annual management and monitoring fees as well as the activity fee which of course we understand is calculated as a percentage of revenue. There is not much revenue so those fees are very little or nothing. But could the Minister outline to me the nature of the fees that are continuing to be charged to concessionaires throughout this period?Hon EUGENIE SAGE (Minister of Conservation): Mr Chair thank you. So there was no embarrassment here. What the Prime Minister announced is what is happening. The member will be aware that in some areas as in her electorate in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park the Department of Conservation acts as the local authority. It collects the rubbish in the area. Similarly at Whakapapa in Tongariro National Park the department provides waste-water systems. So those fees do continue because as when ratepayers pay rates they're paying for those services that are provided similarly here those fees continue.Concession fees have been waived but as the member also knows under the Public Finance Act it is incumbent on the department to send out invoices. The department couldn't simply decide not to charge for fees that were due to it. So with the waiving from 1 March through to the end of the financial year the department is recognising that there is significant pressure on concessionaires. It's providing this cash-flow benefit by waiving the concession fees. Initially some operators because of the cash-flow pressures were seeking to have their activity fees pre-COVID waived as well.