8. Question No. 8—Regional DevelopmentJAMIE ARBUCKLE (NZ First) to the Associate Minister for Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 8—Regional Development8. JAMIE ARBUCKLE (NZ First) to the Associate Minister for Regional Development: What update can he provide from his recent trip to the South Island?Hon MARK PATTERSON (Associate Minister for Regional Development): Thank you Mr Speaker. I did get stuck in the Clinton pub on Friday night—those electric cars that you have issued us are problematic in rural areas. But last week I travelled across Canterbury Otago and Southland to see regional development and investment in action. Regional New Zealand is the backbone of our country and through initiatives such as the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) and the climate resilience fund we can see tangible benefits coming to fruition. I was hosted by Environment Canterbury and I visited Kānoa-funded climate and flood resilient sites. Flooding is the most common natural hazard in New Zealand. Events like the Auckland floods Cyclone Gabrielle and the Canterbury floods just show how extensive this damage can be. Government investments in stopbanks such as Taradale stopbank in Napier can avoid devastating damage to our local communities. Research shows that for every $1 invested in flood protection it is estimated between $5 and $8 in direct losses is avoided. This is why core investment in resilient infrastructure such as flood protection projects are so important.Jamie Arbuckle: How has regional investment supported local manufacturing and engineering?Hon MARK PATTERSON: More good news: since 2018 through previous funds such as the Provincial Growth Fund central government has invested $174 million in 177 Otago-based projects including $24 million into manufacturing and engineering sectors. Many of these had allowed businesses to purchase essential engineering equipment and facility improvements to boost capacity and productivity. One such investment is in the beating heart of South Dunedin which is the Hillside railway workshops which will open again very shortly. This project has received $20 million from the PGF and will provide heavy manufacturing and service capacity for KiwiRail. Re-establishing this mechanical hub and heavy-engineering facility will build greater national resilience and allow KiwiRail to service its trains and assemble wagons.SPEAKER: Could I just say some of the answers from the Minister are almost as long as the trip—just try and get it a little tighter.Jamie Arbuckle: How has regional investment supported local innovation?Hon MARK PATTERSON: Innovation is a critical lever in developing our regions and identifying opportunities for economic growth. Supporting local innovators will continue to open opportunities for our regions and for our local communities to develop. I had the honour of opening the Inventor's Lab in Dunedin which is part of the Petridish innovation hub. Inventor's Lab allows entrepreneurs and businesses to take an idea for a product create a prototype and test and trial the product for the future-stage commercialisation. We have supported a number of Dunedin projects including the Centre of Digital Excellence which is closely aligned to the Inventor's Hub enabling the gaming industry to grow to its aspirations of $1 billion. Mr Speaker you will be delighted to hear that Abiotic Factor has risen to fifth place on the global gaming platform Steam over the weekend. So this is all out of Dunedin all enabled by the PGF and we look forward to similar innovations coming to fruition.SPEAKER: Well I'm not sure about delighted" but I am interested in seeing it in the slideshow—it would be quite long. The Rt Hon Winston Peters.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could the Minister explain who was responsible for the revival of the Hillside workshops in Dunedin as opposed to who took credit for it?SPEAKER: Just before the Minister answers I do recall a situation yesterday where the member asking the question—it took a point of order to make it clear that actions by previous Ministers couldn't necessarily be brought up in a question to a Minister. That was contested by the Opposition; I agreed it could. So here is an example of exactly how that particular part of the Standing Orders can work and something new for the member to take on to his vast extent of knowledge. The Hon Mark Patterson.Hon MARK PATTERSON: Well thank you Mr Speaker. I understand the genesis for the investment in the Hillside workshops was the Provincial Growth Fund which was a key policy that the New Zealand First Party took into the 2017 election.Hon Dr Megan Woods: Supplementary question.SPEAKER: The Hon—Hon Carmel Sepuloni: Megan Woods.SPEAKER: —Megan Woods—sorry.Hon Dr Megan Woods: Thank you Mr Speaker—did the Minister report back to his ministerial colleagues following his intrepid southern journeys that New Zealand exists beyond the Cook Strait given so many of their recent decisions?Hon MARK PATTERSON: Well I think from my extensive answers you can hear that the Government is focused very much and certainly Kānoa and the regional development agency on a number of projects in the South Island."