Bishop ChrisCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South): It feels like 2008 all over again. I worked here in 2008 and I remember question time every day: Taito Phillip Field the Electoral Finance Bill questions around trusts and I remember the election when Helen Clark said This election's about trust." I remember the Spencer Trust and I remember the last year of that Government being dogged by questions around Mr Peters and New Zealand First and it feels like déjà vu. It feels like it's starting again just two years into this Government's time in office. I want to talk about the Provincial Growth Fund and the application from Future Forest Products Ltd because let me tell you we have not heard the last of this. There is more to come. We know a Provincial Growth Fund application was made from March 2019 onwards. They wanted a $15 million loan for a feasibility study—$15 million. Now look you might think that there's not much wrong with that. The Provincial Growth Fund has funded a lot of feasibility studies around the country and they're very expensive as well except for the fact that this application came from a company that recently registered a director Brian Henry—who we all know is a personal lawyer for Winston Peters and a New Zealand First judicial officer—his son and Jan Trotman who was added as a director in August. We know there was back and forth with the officials. We know that there were videoconferences there were meetings and there was email correspondence and a critical question that we will be investigating in this House is: how much involvement did Ministers have in that process? How much awareness did Ministers have during that process? We know that there was some back and forth and there was some correspondence. On 21 September a Mr Henry emailed Shane Jones' office and sent on an article that would be of interest in relation to forestry investment. That was sent to his senior private secretary and later forwarded on to the Minister. What did we learn yesterday? Yesterday we learnt that on 4 November responsibility for decision making around the application for the Provincial Growth Fund was transferred to David Clark—the responsibility for answering it was transferred on 4 November. Multiple questions arise: firstly when did Mr Jones the responsible Minister know about the application? When did he know—Darroch Ball: You asked the questions in the House today. CHRIS BISHOP: —because Mr Parker was very careful—SPEAKER: Order! Order! I didn't ask the questions. CHRIS BISHOP: Mr Parker was very careful in the House today to say that when he became aware an application was going to Ministers—which was in October—he therefore recused himself. The critical question which we will keep asking is when he was aware an application was being made. Darroch Ball: Oh come on. CHRIS BISHOP: Mr Ball laughs and scoffs. A lot turns on this—a lot turns on this. That's the first one. Secondly why did the Minister wait until October to realise the conflict and declare it properly? Thirdly why was that transfer only made on 4 November remembering that just three days later the application was declined? A remarkably quick turn-around when the application was first made in March this year.There are further questions for Mr Peters and for the Prime Minister herself. Who else declared a conflict? Mr Peters stood in Parliament yesterday and made reference to more than one Minister declaring a conflict. Who was the other Minister? Who was it? Was it Mr Peters himself? Was it Fletcher Tabuteau the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development? When were those conflicts declared? Why did Mr Peters say—as he did yesterday in relation to the application—that it never went to Ministers? Mr Peters said in question time yesterday that the application was declined by the independent managers who run the Provincial Growth Fund but yet we had David Clark yesterday and then Mr Parker on behalf of Shane Jones today saying that it was Ministers that declined at the regional economic development Ministers' meeting. Mr Peters said yesterday that one Minister knew nothing. Is that really true? We will ask these questions. This is a very murky picture. We will continue to get to the bottom of it in Opposition."