1. Question No. 1—Regional Economic DevelopmentMARK PATTERSON (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Regional Economic Development1. MARK PATTERSON (NZ First) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: What recent announcements have been made regarding Provincial Growth Fund support to economic development agencies?FLETCHER TABUTEAU (Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister for Regional Economic Development) on behalf of the Minister for Regional Economic Development: On behalf of the Minister I would like to take this opportunity to address the lack of acknowledgement of the hard work of the under-secretary and his efforts around economic development agencies. He's been travelling up and down the country and doing a lot of good work but with regard to the announcement I have to acknowledge that the under-secretary was able to recently talk to Economic Development New Zealand and make the announcement that we are able to provide critical support through the Provincial Growth Fund and we have done that in the way of a $985000 contribution over three years which will ensure that they are able to produce a comprehensive professional development programme and a suite of best-practice resources for the economic development agencies (EDAs).Hon Nathan Guy: What's he talking about?FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Well you wouldn't know.SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume his seat. The under-secretary will stand withdraw and apologise for his last comment.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: I withdraw and apologise Mr Speaker.Mark Patterson: What work are you undertaking as part of the Provincial Growth Fund to help economic development agencies build capability in our regions?FLETCHER TABUTEAU: On behalf of the Minister our EDAs have been doing a great lot of work over the last few years but there have been a particular few who have shown through their efforts and engagement with the Provincial Growth Fund just what can be done and what can be achieved and how EDAs have made a huge contribution to the empowerment of the Provincial Growth Fund. So the work that is being undertaken to help is around the delivery of development and management programmes to help build EDA staff skill sets. We have seen firsthand how if we have the right people in the right place at the right time those people on the ground can make a huge difference. This Government wants to make sure that all of our EDAs are fully equipped to succeed in this way.Mark Patterson: What role could economic development agencies play in the Government's regional development strategy?FLETCHER TABUTEAU: On behalf of the Minister regional economic development agencies are a critical part of bringing together our regions' stakeholders and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Each EDA is actually quite unique and has evolved differently over time and they will be required to evolve as we move forward. They are not Government agencies or departments and neither should they be. So what we're trying to achieve here is to ensure that the work that we are undertaking in the Government is about EDAs optimising their position to represent their regions in the best possible way. From Kaitāia to Invercargill EDAs have that crucial role—SPEAKER: Order! I think we have had enough and we'll have the daily grammar lesson as well: there's no such thing as quite unique"."