10. Question No. 10—Regional Economic DevelopmentHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentQuestion No. 10—Regional Economic Development10. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister for Regional Economic Development: Does he stand by his statement that the Provincial Growth Fund will create sustainable jobs in the regions" and how many new permanent roles have been created that did not exist prior to Provincial Growth Fund funding being allocated to those projects?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): Yes and I would point out to the House that we've always included part-time full-time and contractors in our jobs data collection because it reflects the number of people who have come into the labour work especially in those sectors that rely on contractors. A job is a job. However on the question of the number of permanent new roles until such time as the full impact and roll-out of the fund is completed it's not possible to answer that question.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Well how therefore can his press release this morning say that the number of jobs created by the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) outstripped the 10000 target when the questions asked by the Provincial Development Unit (PDU) didn't actually include a question on how many jobs were created?Hon SHANE JONES: The member is slightly incorrect there. The compilation of the data was carried out by officials who got in contact by both phone call and email in terms of how many people had been employed at various points in the journey on different projects. The difficulty with the full accounting of jobs lies in the fact that a number of the projects have yet to kick off such as the breakwaters at the mouth of the Whanganui River or indeed the iconic port wharf and harbour development at Ōpōtiki.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Given that answer and the answer to his primary question how could he so boldly say that 13217 jobs had been created by the PGF?Hon SHANE JONES: That is a well-proportioned figure. It reflects an exercise undertaken and COVID has had such an impact on the operations of this area of Government. As a consequence of the officials being asked to go back and re-engage it's actually given me the confidence to say that the figure will actually be 28000 as the projects roll out. I need to repeat again: a sum of $700 million has actually been handed out in the form of pūtea—cash—into the accounts into the pockets of the employees and I would invite the member to divide 13000 into $700 million.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he think "sustainable growth" has been achieved when 6648 of the 13000 jobs no longer exist after just 2½ years?Hon SHANE JONES: Therein lies a problem in the member's logic. This fund has invested in infrastructure. As infrastructure is completed tertiary and secondary investors with their own money follow up whether it's an improvement to rail whether it's an improvement in maritime infrastructure whether it's improvement in water storage. Many jobs will flow but you don't employ people permanently after an infrastructure project has been completed. Then you allow the genius of the market to come to play.Hon Simon Bridges: Is he aware of a putative Provincial Growth Fund project at the University of Waikato marine centre in Tauranga that the Minister of Conservation has just declined despite its clear purpose of environmental research and does he know why?Hon SHANE JONES: A matter of that detail requires a very serious answer and I invite the member to put that in writing. I am not aware that the outcomes that are contained in our coalition agreement to do with aquaculture are being frustrated at all.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is the reason he didn't announce the result of the question by the PDU on how many jobs were saved when they otherwise might've been lost because the answer was not many if any?Hon SHANE JONES: I shall endeavour to address that riddle. I repeat again: the allocation of $700 million has given us a figure of 13000 workers being engaged in the delivery of projects to date. Now the jobs will most certainly flow when the initiatives are fully rolled out and that's why we take a great deal of diligence as we move forward in the allocation of the remainder of the fund."