11. Question No. 11—Regional DevelopmentHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister for Regional DevelopmentQuestion No. 11—Regional Development11. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister for Regional Development: Does she believe taxpayers have a right to expect good value for the Government's investment in the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) and do comments from the Office of the Auditor-General that it was not yet certain that Parliament or the public can have confidence that the investments made through the PGF reset will ultimately represent good value for money" concern her?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance) on behalf of the Minister for Regional Development: In answer to the first part of the question yes. To the second part of the question the Government always takes reports from the Office of the Auditor-General seriously and we acknowledge their findings. The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) reset was delivered in extraordinary times when the Government was rapidly responding to the economic effects of the pandemic which the report acknowledges. I am advised that Kānoa is going to engage with the Office of the Auditor-General on the report and it is my expectation that they will make improvements to internal processes where needed. I also note the independent evaluation of the Provincial Growth Fund undertaken by Allen and Clarke and released in June 2022 which rated both outputs and early outcomes as effective.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Well given her response that the Government always takes the Auditor-General's reports seriously is she concerned that many of the Auditor-General's concerns from this report mirror the report from 2020 about the PGF overall suggesting no lessons were learnt and does this demonstrate that the Government still has no care for managing taxpayers' money?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: On behalf of the Minister no I don't accept that and I point the member to the findings of the latest report from the Auditor-General where he acknowledged that Kānoa - Regional Economic Development and Investment Unit's performance of its due diligence of applicants had improved; one example of the way in which lessons have been learnt.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Well is she concerned that the Auditor-General also found a lack of documentary evidence meaning they had to rely on people's two-year-old memories to fill in information gaps? And what are the 170 staff at Kānoa doing if not documenting processes for the $640 million of taxpayer money?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: On behalf of the Minister as I indicated in my earlier answers there are indeed internal process improvements that are required. It is no excuse at all but this was during a period where rapid response was required during the pandemic. But processes do need to be better and I know Kānoa is aware of that.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Can the Government in all honesty say that the PGF represents good value for money when the Auditor-General has for the second time shown serious concern for how that money is being spent?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes because the Provincial Growth Fund has created thousands and thousands of jobs: 14949 jobs since its inception. I have been present at occasions on which Opposition members have been there and celebrated the opening of Provincial Growth Fund projects. These are projects that mean a lot in the regions. Does that mean that everything was perfect in the way that the fund was created? No it wasn't and it's important that we learn lessons and Kānoa responds with changes."