7. Question No. 7—Regional Economic DevelopmentHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentQuestion No. 7—Regional Economic Development7. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: Does he stand by all his statements and actions?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): Āe.Hon Paul Goldsmith: When he told this House on 11 April that he asked the acting CEO of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) why his prosecutors were reducing Semenoff Logging's Filipino truck drivers to in his words begin acting as pimps" how did he think that he was not involving himself in the case?SPEAKER: Does the member want to try and—oh no. I'll let the Minister answer it. I think the question was sort of slightly out of order at the beginning. I think he really meant not what he said in the House but what he did with the NZTA which is not quite what he asked. Shane Jones.Hon SHANE JONES: The allegations contained in the question are grossly untrue.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What parts of the question are untrue?Hon SHANE JONES: The entirety. Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he think he has a right to query independent prosecutors' methods with the agency's CEO in the middle of a case?Hon SHANE JONES: I refer the member to the various answers I have given. It is completely within my rights as the regional champion to draw to the attention the wisdom of using migrant labour up and down the New Zealand transport freight sector and encouraging them to act in a way that I have formerly regarded as pimps but now I call informants.Hon Paul Goldsmith: What advice has he had from the Attorney-General on his actions regarding the Semenoff case?Hon SHANE JONES: I have had several discussions with the Attorney-General. On one particular issue pertaining to fisheries he has advised me that such matters are best left devoid of any commentary from myself.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Why did the Minister meet Daron Turner the general manager of Semenoff Logging Ltd on 12 August 2018 just 11 days after the NZTA briefed Ministers on its intentions to revoke Semenoff Logging Ltd's transport services licence and what did he say?Hon SHANE JONES: Obviously as the first citizen of the provinces I meet regularly with leaders of New Zealand industry. In a number of those meetings occasionally I don a ministerial cap and other times I'm enrobed in my New Zealand First cloak made of duck feather.Ian McKelvie: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Everybody knows that the Queen's representative the Governor-General is the first citizen of the provinces and I think the Minister should apologise.SPEAKER: I thought he was going to indicate that a mallard cloak was something that he shouldn't put on.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Did he approach the Hon Iain Lees-Galloway in August last year regarding Semenoff Group's application for accredited employer status in his regional development capacity and if so what was he asking for? Hon SHANE JONES: I'd have to go back and check my records—rather than mislead the House—but for a long time I have been advocating for the New Zealand heavy freight industry not only to be given access as a transitional measure to migrant labour but to train our own people to drive the trucks and to be paid a fair wage."