Parker DavidHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Economic Development): Thank you Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of the Labour Party to respond to the issue that is under debate. The subject matter of the funding application was for a cultural heritage and education centre named Manea Footprints of Kupe to be sited in Ōpōnoni on the banks of the Hokianga estuary.The background to that which the Minister the Hon Shane Jones has already stated to the media is that some period earlier he knew some of the people who were in support of that proposal and not because he was conflicted because of having a personal financial interest or a family interest in it he chose to contact the Cabinet Office because he knew particularly well one of the deceased proponents of the scheme but he was uncertain as to how he should deal with that association. He contacted the Cabinet Office and the Cabinet Office effectively didn't tell him he must declare a conflict of interest but said Look if you're feeling uncomfortable about this maybe you want to."Now I've got to say that if this is the test for a conflict of interest then I think lots of people in this House including me and the Hon Nick Smith breached that standard in respect of the Waimea dam. We were aware of that we knew proponents for it we advocated for it in Government and in Opposition and actually we both took part in the decision in respect of the funding of the Waimea dam.But the Hon Shane Jones in part because he has been under attack and he's been concerned to protect the reputation of the Provincial Growth Fund against accusations of self-interest decided that he didn't want to partake in the decision-making process for this particular application. Now I was one of the decision-making Ministers and I have before me—and at the end of this I will table it—the document that came to me. It somewhat surprisingly bears the date of 8 April because it came to me on 31 January when it was signed out by officials from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) from the Provincial Growth Fund who forwarded me the briefing on the issue of whether there should be an investment in the Manea Footprints of Kupe and that's proven by the signature of the official from MBIE dated 30 January 2018.The meeting that the member the Hon Paul Goldsmith complains of was after I'd actually already approved the investment. My approval of the investment was on 7 February 2018 where I agreed to approve the proposal for funding of up to $4600000 for the Manea Footprints of Kupe Cultural Heritage and Education Centre from Vote Business Science and Innovation's Regional Growth Initiatives' multi-year appropriation. So the idea that there's somehow some terrible influence on Ministers in respect of this issue—even if there were a conflict and to be perfectly honest I don't think that there was a conflict of interest here but let's just assume for argument's sake that there really was a real conflict I certainly wasn't influenced by the Hon Shane Jones' comments at a later meeting because I'd already taken my decision.I do make the point that we need to be a little bit careful here that we don't become unrealistic as to what amounts to a conflict of interest. I can understand why the member Shane Jones didn't want to become involved because I think he had a feeling of some loyalty to the deceased man who had been one of the people behind this. Now I know the Hon Shane Jones' motivation in respect of the Provincial Growth Fund and I know why he has argued for it to concentrate its efforts in three regions in New Zealand that for slightly different reasons have been on hard times.There are three regions in New Zealand where the Provincial Growth Fund focuses its investment efforts. I'm raising this because the Hon Paul Goldsmith has made assertions that there is undue investment into the North because of the private interest or the political interest of the Hon Shane Jones. Now—Hon Gerry Brownlee: That's right.Hon DAVID PARKER: Well there we go again; the Hon Gerry Brownlee says that. Now I don't know how the National Party can be blind to the fact that the Far North is bedevilled by the highest rate of violence in New Zealand probably the highest rate of intergenerational welfare dependency and probably the highest rate of imprisonment of any populations in New Zealand. The other area that's bedevilled with that particular curse is actually the Tai Rāwhiti region the region around the East Coast. These are two of the three surge regions for the Provincial Growth Fund.Now what do you do if you're trying to overcome a disadvantaged part of New Zealand and you just want to break with the neo-liberal tradition that we've had for 20 or 30 years? Actually you focus a bit of attention on the region. Now the level of sophistication of what's going in in the North I would suggest to the House and to those that are listening is quite high. We're supporting not just burgeoning tourism—that's what this addresses. There is no doubt an untapped tourism potential in the North. The more wealthy parts of New Zealand already get more tourism than some of the less wealthy parts. The Far North is one of the most interesting and beautiful and culturally diverse parts of the country and yet it's under-serviced by tourism infrastructure and that's what this project was intended to address by effectively creating a destination somewhere between you know Tāne Māhuta—the great kauri forest as you head up towards the Hokianga—and then as you head further north up to—Hon Gerry Brownlee: That's not the point.Hon DAVID PARKER: Well the member says "That's not the point." Actually it is the point of the fund. In respect of the point that the member raises as to somehow misleading either members of Parliament or people who were involved in the approval of this venture he's just got it wrong. If he wants me to quote further from the paper that I've just quoted that I signed on 7 February—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Why didn't he leave the room?Hon DAVID PARKER: —in advance of the meeting that you complain of Mr Brownlee—recommendation A was that I note that the Minister for Regional Economic Development has declared a conflict of interest and will not receive this proposal for consideration. So I (1) defend the Minister—Hon Gerry Brownlee: Why was he in the room?Hon DAVID PARKER: The member was in the room because we were having a broader discussion about how we were going to make the initial announcements for investments through the Provincial Growth Fund and other approvals that he was interested in. As he has said and as the Prime Minister has said given that he did declare a conflict of interest it probably would have been less controversial if he had stepped outside the room. But I can assure the House and those who are listening that that made absolutely no difference to the outcome on this particular application as far as I was concerned because I had already approved it. Thank you Mr Speaker."