6. Question No. 6—Regional Economic DevelopmentCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentQuestion No. 6—Regional Economic Development6. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: Does he stand by his policies and statements in relation to regional economic development?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Deputy Prime Minister) on behalf of the Minister for Regional Economic Development: I most certainly do particularly the statement about how the previous National administration wilfully neglected the regions for nine long years.Chris Bishop: Has the Government sought advice from officials on making changes to the criteria for the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) in light of COVID-19 and if so what did the advice say?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister any sound wise and experienced Minister would do that facing any crisis and the crisis of the nature of COVID-19 meant that we had to refocus our priorities. Most certainly we did and I cannot believe anyone would rise in this House asking that question.Chris Bishop: Well in light of that answer what changes to the Provincial Growth Fund criteria have been made by the Government?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister just take one. For example we know that tourism is struggling because amongst other things international travel will not be happening. Then we've got health and security issues and a number of things like the factor of units to keep the operations going all around provincial New Zealand where tourism is concerned. So of course we're refocusing and repurposing with respect to those initial initiatives where we were supporting tourism. It doesn't mean that they're not going to be supported long term but in the short term right here right now we're taking the smart commercial decisions that any wise Government would take.Hon Tracey Martin: Is the PGF focused on the aim to drive a revival in manufacturing in New Zealand?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister most certainly. We're a Government that came to power with manufacturing in decline and now one of the great experiences—Hon Paul Goldsmith: Bring back import licensing. Let's make TVs. Let's make cars.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: —or lessons of the global crisis caused by COVID-19—it's no use making a lot of silly sounds from Epsom when the commercial experience that you have as a member of Parliament is precisely zero. Perhaps that member if he wants to shout out in the House every day could get up and tell the country what commercial experience he's got and having none please keep his mouth shut while someone who has got commercial experience seeks to tell him what we're doing. Now here's the real purpose.Hon Members: Who's that?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: I have.Hon Simon Bridges: When was that?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Mr Bridges I made more money in my law firm than you ever made right? I made more in one month than you made in six months. That's a fact. Now back to your point. If you want to make a silly challenge like that I'm up to it. But here's the point: manufacturing was in decline and we're going to revive manufacturing because all of a sudden a whole lot of people realise that a call a long time ago to restore New Zealand manufacturing is now making compelling common sense.Hon Tracey Martin: Is the PGF focused on supporting New Zealand businesses to add value in New Zealand to our raw materials?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister that's a brilliant question—take for example sending logs offshore in their most raw unprocessed state for tens of thousands of jobs for some other economy and six to sometimes 20 times the added value offshore. We seek to add value in that product onshore New Zealand first and all around provincial New Zealand where forestry is our mainstay. It will cause an economic and employment and wealth revival. This is common sense. As with all of our primary products where we can add value we should add it here and get the top market price not allow it to go to some other economy. That has always been a wise national strategy.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Does the Government support the decision of Air New Zealand in which it's a 52 percent shareholder to close its regional maintenance base in Nelson permanently with the loss of over 100 high-value manufacturing jobs that he seeks to champion?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister what a fascinating question given that the construction of the ownership of Air New Zealand was the National Party's policy not any policy of any party on this side of the House. He would not know that of course. That's his level of experience when it comes to commerce as well. But here's the same question—and if he thinks the Government is a 52 percent shareholder today then he knows nothing about what's just happened. The third thing is Mr Foran is a leading commercial mind that came to Air New Zealand and we're prepared to give him a chance to make that airline a great success once again having been saved for the umpteenth time by the Minister of Finance and the taxpayer.Hon Dr Nick Smith: Supplementary.SPEAKER: I want to ask Dr Smith just to wait. I know it's sometimes hard to predict. Wait until the—Hon Dr Nick Smith: A good part of the answers is simply abuse.SPEAKER: I'm going to stand up. The member will sit down. I'm going to require him to wait until the Minister acting for the Minister for Regional Economic Development has finished his answer before he stands up in that way. If he wants the abuse to stop I think he should talk to a number of his colleagues who are interjecting in the absolute knowledge that they're going to set that abuse off.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I think your somewhat lecturing tone there to the House is unreasonable. There's been a good degree of decorum in here as reasonable questions have been answered. That was a very reasonable question from Dr Smith as were questions earlier today. To be greeted with a barrage of personal insult is I think somewhat unbecoming for the nature of the House particularly at this difficult time and particularly when you're asking a question that is sensitive to so many New Zealanders who are about to lose their jobs.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Can I just say this: every time I've visited the House since I've come back in the last day or two to answer a question I've been met with a whole lot of hectoring and interjections and the audience out there in New Zealand should know that about three or four people are shouting across themselves at this side of the House. Now I've got a famous line for them and it's Elvis Presley's famous quote: if you're looking for trouble you've come to the right place.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I think if we look at the transcript of the Hansard you will find that that member started personal attacks first and we only responded to his personal attacks.SPEAKER: Well I think in that particular case—certainly if we take the question time as a whole as opposed to just that supplementary—that is not accurate. The member answering the question initially responded to a couple of interjections at least one of which came from that member. In responding to Mr Brownlee's point of order I do look forward to—and I hope that we can have—more decorum in the House. I don't think members will find another member with more familial interest in the Air New Zealand redundancies than me. And I just want to make it clear: go back to my original point and that is that the normal courtesy of letting members answer their questions before someone stands up unless they have a point of order will be the way that we continue to run the House.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Just not wanting to prolong the point of order the reply that was given by the Rt Hon Winston Peters was allowed to stand and I simply want to make it clear to him that the country is in trouble at the moment and we are not looking for more. We just want answers. That's not an unreasonable position for an Opposition to take when a Government has so much leeway as they have at the present time to do the extraordinary things that are required of them.SPEAKER: OK. Well I'll deal with that now. The member knows absolutely it's not a point of order but I think in any case I'll ask the Minister acting for the Minister for Regional Economic Development to take that on. Hon Dr Nick Smith: What is his response to the petition to the Minister for Regional Economic Development signed by over 15000 people in just a week seeking that the Government's $900 million of financial support to Air New Zealand be tagged to retaining the regional maintenance facility in Nelson and the over 100 high-paying jobs?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister my response is that any opportunity for an intervention like that has been constrained outlawed and prohibited by the structure the National Party set up in the ownership of Air New Zealand. Hon Dr Nick Smith: It just did a $900 million—Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: It deliberately—no. Excuse me. If you'll just wait—and Mr Brownlee wanted an answer. If you deliberately take a Minister and a Government out of the decision-making power of a business like that which is what the structure is—and it's unique; as a State-owned enterprise (SOE) it's a structure different to any other one—then how can you now intervene? The member's asked me as a Minister to step up and do that. That is be part and parcel of the everyday decision-making process of an airline whilst the operation legally that they're existing under prohibits the Minister from doing anything like that.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That answer demonstrates the problem that I outlined before. We are here just to get answers. To be given a lecture like that that is fundamentally wrong and to have that accepted on the Hansard record as being reasonable in this circumstance is not good for the decorum of the House or for the people who are actually wanting to get information from this process. I know in normal times you might get away with a bland answer like that but it is a fact that in this case it is Government Ministers who negotiated directly with Air New Zealand the arrangements around the $900 million and also made sure it's partly equity-based if they can't meet those payments. To say they have no opportunity to put conditions around a loan or the eventual transfer of equity is plain wrong.SPEAKER: OK. I think now for the third time the member has made an intervention which may or may not be factually correct but cannot be characterised as a point of order. Members cannot stand up on a point of order in order to disagree with an answer and I'm sure the member knows it. The solution for the member as he is aware is to ask another supplementary. Hon Dr Nick Smith: Has the Minister for Regional Economic Development made any statements publicly or directly to Air New Zealand on the significant loss of over 100 high-value manufacturing jobs from the permanent closure of the regional maintenance facility in Nelson given his propensity to previously make all sorts of comments about Air New Zealand's business?Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: On behalf of the Minister and being aware of that last sarcastic addition to the question the Minister makes it very clear that unlike any other Minister he has been more profoundly interested in the provincial existence and survival of Air New Zealand services and still is. But the real point again is this: the proscription that says he cannot get involved in everyday decision-making was written by the National Party. And to stand up here today and say that we should forget about that when its ownership structure is unique—when its ownership structure is—Hon Dr Nick Smith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was: had the Minister made any statements publicly—SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The member will resume his seat. We will wait until we get to the end of the member's answer before we prejudge whether he's answered it or not.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS: Again on behalf of the Minister the opportunity to make the kind of statement being invited now no matter how sympathetic as a Minister I might be towards what is happening around the provinces—dare I say it the services of the provinces and the workforce in the provinces where Air New Zealand's concerned—I am nevertheless constrained by a proscription that was put in place by a previous Government namely the National Government which unlike any other SOE says I cannot do what the member is asking.