3. Question No. 3—Regional DevelopmentANDY FOSTER (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 3—Regional Development3. ANDY FOSTER (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Development: What announcements has he made regarding the Regional Infrastructure Fund?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Development): Recently I announced that I will be holding a series of nationwide summits enabling people from the regions to identify priorities and aspirations and move on from the Wellington-centric bureaucratic-laden approach of the last three years. These 15 summits will begin on 12 August in Nelson but most importantly we need to boost economic resilience and create further opportunities to drive productivity given the woeful state of the economy inherited when we arrived in power.Andy Foster: What is the purpose of the regional summits and where will they be held?Hon SHANE JONES: There's been far too much handwringing. There's been far too much culture wars afflicting economic development. These will be opportunities where we can elevate the importance of mining. We can lead a national discussion about the role of rare-earth minerals including vanadium located in the iron sands off the coast of Taranaki. We can talk about water storage. We can talk about a host of other interventions that we will need because New Zealand needs all the segments of economic growth pumping creating export earnings and turning around our fortunes. And these summits—hopefully they will emulate the turnout I enjoyed in Blackball. Andy Foster: What classes of infrastructure will the Regional Infrastructure Fund support?Hon SHANE JONES: So this fund follows on from the great work achieved in an earlier Government in regional New Zealand—sadly lapsed in more recent times. The types of infrastructure that one has in mind—and already people are queuing up sending through their proposals to enable us to deal better with the inevitable shocks associated with volatile weather. Co-investment will now—Chlöe Swarbrick: Climate change—say climate change.Hon SHANE JONES: I don't want any more Green ideological sludge from that side of the House. This is a pure economic development approach. Co-governance is gone; co-investment is in.Andy Foster: What are examples of projects that we supported through the Regional Infrastructure Fund?Hon SHANE JONES: It's important that we respond with alacrity and work with partners in the regions so that we adapt to cope with the inevitable changes in our quality of life in our infrastructure as weather worsens.Chlöe Swarbrick: Climate change.Hon SHANE JONES: There's no place in these serious debates for Green quackery. This will focus on those measurable types of investments including that announced during the course of the Budget which is to boost resilience through ensuring that our river systems and our catchments are better managed with flood management. That is a far more practical response other than the Green handwringing that afflicts New Zealand.SPEAKER: I'll just say to members down in that back quadrant of the House that interjections are to be interjections not just barracking from a seat. Please keep that in mind.