9. Question No. 9—Regional Economic DevelopmentHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentQuestion No. 9—Regional Economic Development9. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Economic Development) on behalf of the Minister for Regional Economic Development: Yes.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he stand by his statement in the December 2017 Cabinet paper outlining the objectives of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) that the first objective is Increased jobs (with a focus on high quality jobs) and sustainable economic development over the long term"?Hon DAVID PARKER: Yes and I'm pleased to again advise the member that the Provincial Development Unit officials who contacted PGF funding recipients in February to gather data about job creation tallied 560 new jobs as the most accurate and up-to-date figure as at that date.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Is he satisfied that the only answer his officials have provided so far to me and the public showing the number of sustained new jobs created by the fund relates to a third of the projects and lists only six jobs?Hon DAVID PARKER: I am aware of the member's press release to that effect yesterday which said "The one straight answer we've had from the Provincial Development Unit shows that with a third of the projects counted just six permanent sustained jobs have been created"—it is such an absurd accusation I'm surprised that the member was willing to put that out under his name. To give but one example the Ruapehu Alpine Lifts have 37 jobs during construction and the wider economic effects of that one project alone will be far more than the miserable six jobs that he thinks the New Zealand public is stupid enough to believe is the total.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I seek to table an email from Jarred Griffiths to Ash Patel with a table which shows exactly that—six sustained new jobs.SPEAKER: It's not publicly available?Hon Paul Goldsmith: No. It's dated 11 February 2019.SPEAKER: Right. Is there any objection to that email being tabled? There appears to be none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why are his officials refusing to release the latest figures on the number of sustained new jobs created so far?Hon DAVID PARKER: The member tries to suggest that jobs that are contractors who are building new infrastructure or new buildings are not jobs. They are sustainable jobs in that industry. Those contractors employ people who are working on these projects that would not have occurred but for the PGF involvement.Hon Paul Goldsmith: So he thinks halfway through a term relating to a $3 billion fund that even if we went with his upper estimate of 500 jobs including contractors part-timers and people who have done—SPEAKER: Order! Question.Hon Paul Goldsmith: —perhaps one hour it is a good return on that investment?Hon DAVID PARKER: No that's not what I think; what I think is that the member favours tax cuts for the rich and hard right austerity for the regions. That's why the provinces withered and social problems grew under his watch. We've got a lot of work to do to fix that laissez-faire neglect but we've started and it's going well."