Martin TraceyHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister for Children): Kia ora Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you very much. So I think what we have seen in the contribution from the last member Jonathan Young and the contribution from Mr Falloon is that actually this is not about the urgent debate topic that was put forward. What we have seen in the previous contributions from the two National Party members is an articulation of We didn't get some money so how come Northland did?" What I find very interesting about the contribution particularly from Mr Falloon is that sitting next to him is Matt King the member for Northland who has just sat next to the gentleman who has argued that Northland one of the most neglected areas in New Zealand should not—should not—get any economic development funding. There is a suggestion that this is all because a member a Minister may or may not stand in a particular seat. That line was glided to very closely by Mr Falloon. He completely ignored of course that Tai Rāwhiti has had over close to $200 million worth of provincial growth funding. I do understand that Mr Falloon somehow is very sad that his area—his area—that he obviously advocates for has only received $8 million to date—to date. The whole of the Provincial Growth Fund is still running.But let's get back to—DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes so the member now has taken a minute and a half debating things that she didn't think should have been debated. So I would ask her to come to the topic on the floor.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: So let's get back to what supposedly this urgent debate is about which is actually about the disclosure the actual disclosure by Minister Jones of a perceived conflict of interest. Let's make sure we identify this correctly. There is no direct benefit to Mr Jones from the project that is being discussed—there is no direct benefit to Mr Jones from the project being discussed. There is a perceived conflict that he took advice on in October 2018 from the Cabinet Office who said to him that there is not necessarily any perceived conflict just to know somebody which—we all know lots of people in a small country around New Zealand. Just to know someone is not a perceived conflict. There is an error that has been repeated in this House by the Opposition: Mr Jones was never the chair of this particular organisation and they should stop repeating incorrect information because the Speaker has previously warned only last week about the ability to provide evidence should one continue to make such statements.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Madam Deputy Speaker. It was not the Opposition who made that allegation against Mr Jones. It was stated as a fact by the Rt Hon Winston Peters.DEPUTY SPEAKER: In fairness that is not a point of order; that is a debatable point and I'm sure that the next speaker will take that up.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: I think people should go and actually go and check the Hansard. DEPUTY SPEAKER: That might apply to all of us.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: Yes that's right. It applies to all of us. People should go and check the Hansard. So let's get to the other process then. So the Minister sought advice. He was told he didn't need to actually declare any perceived conflict of interest but because he knows that the Opposition is so incredibly jealous of the fact that there is a Provincial Growth Fund and for the fact that it is incredibly popular and doing good things for New Zealand he erred on the side of extreme caution. He erred on the side of extreme caution and declared. He not only declared; he removed himself by asking another Minister to sit in on the decision-making part of this process.Let's now come to the question that Mr Goldsmith put down in writing—and words matter. They've always mattered. The Opposition is manipulating the words continually around this particular issue for their own benefit. The question was: had the Minister gone to or attended any meetings on this specific project? Technically Mr Jones did not attend any official meetings on this specific project. He attended a meeting of 16 projects with four other Ministers and did not take any part in the decision making on that particular project.Now these are the facts for New Zealanders to digest. They need to go and check the Hansard around the comments made by the Opposition and marry that with the reality of what went on here. A Minister who is determined to grow—and there is a terrible undercurrent coming around any project funded by the Provincial Growth Fund for Māori in this country and the people should go and check the Hansard around those comments. It would appear that if there are predominantly Māori in an area the Opposition will object to there being any Provincial Growth Fund money spent."