Pugh MaureenMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Chair—thank you very much. I'd like to follow on the line of questioning around the Provincial Growth Fund. As we are all aware in every one of the electorates there are literally billions of dollars being allocated to projects. I recall when the Minister was speaking to the select committee in the Estimates hearings he mentioned to us that he was surprised at the number of projects that were not able to proceed because they were not consented. It did come as a surprise to me because projects that sit in a planning stage do not usually get to the consenting stage unless funding is assured because it's quite an expensive and time-consuming process to get those consents.So when the Minister has allocated those funds to those projects pre-COVID then those projects were working their way through the process; come COVID the Minister felt he had to reprioritise some of that money. So that money was clawed back. Now we have heard since COVID especially from the Prime Minister that it's all about jobs jobs jobs but all we've seen is it's all about announcements announcements announcements. What I would like to know from the Minister in the chair is: with the very short time frame now ahead of us and all of the funding that's been allocated to projects across this country that are still not consented and will be unlikely to be consented before the election are we likely to see yet again a reprioritisation of that money?Also a question to the Minister: how is the Minister going to ensure that contracts will be in place to lock in that funding to those individual projects prior to the election? The concern that I have is that all we are getting is re-announcing the churn of the same money around and around different projects in this country and it seems likely to me that unless a contract is signed that commits that money legally to all of those projects—those councils and individuals and businesses—then we are unlikely to see it actually realised into a project. Thank you Minister.Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): Actually the honourable member the list member for Tai Poutini raises a very good point which is why no one was more enthusiastic than my good self for the sterling work undertaken and the product delivered by the Hon David Parker in terms of the fast-track process for the Resource Management Act (RMA).Now look I don't want to delve into why former regimes never delivered; I just want to focus on the fact that there's now an opportunity for certain projects that may be in receipt of pūtea from the Provincial Growth Fund to be referred to the Minister. Now let me name one—let me name one. We have an entity called the Tai Tokerau Water Trust. Now that was formed—and I will come back to Te Tai Poutini in a very succinct fashion—and that trust promoted the first water storage dam near Kaikohe. It was included in Schedule 2 of the legislation and voted for by the other side of the House in a shared fit of illumination. Now that shows that where there may be projects that are ensnared in unnecessarily long RMA processes the applicants have the ability to make an application to the Environmental Protection Authority which will then refer the matter to the Minister for the Environment. Now I don't want to comment on who may or may not still be standing after the election; that properly in my view is not the business of this type of debate.Secondly in terms of does it mean if there's a change of Government or different personalities holding a warrant to be Crown Ministers no single Parliament can bind the next Parliament. That's the nature of our democracy; that's the nature of our Westminster-based constitution. But I'm absolutely confident that in the event that a similar group of politicians hold the benches of Treasury they will want to continue to roll out the kaupapa of endowing our regions with overdue infrastructure injecting Crown capital into enterprises that lead to jobs that have a transformational impact in certain sectors and also enhance productivity.You only have to look at the announcement that I have just celebrated along with the Hon Damien O'Connor for the pūtea that's been given to the Mānuka Trust. Mānuka is an incredibly valuable indigenous species belonging uniquely to New Zealand. There is a fear that overseas interests are trying to capitalise and gulp down the profits associated with the products that come from that mānuka that rightfully belong here. The Provincial Growth Fund has made an allocation to help transform that industry—which is in the Tai Poutini as well not only up in the Tai Rāwhiti—so that the science can deliver better opportunities as to what are the goods and services that can be gained from further investing in mānuka. So any suggestion that we're not prepared to address the outstanding issues of RMA consents I do believe is incorrect.Secondly whilst I can't speculate as to what will happen in October November December these decisions have been made and we are harrying the officials to ensure that the contractual obligations are entered into as soon as possible. But as you know they act in a slightly independent fashion and they have to work at a pace where they feel they can credibly give that advice that the green button is all 100 percent.MAUREEN PUGH (National): Can I just ask the Minister in the chair the Hon Shane Jones then to confirm that all of the projects that have been approved through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will get committed funding assured or a contract signed that will ensure that the project that has been approved by the PGF will be going ahead before the 2020 election.Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): So obviously there are two sides to any contract. We've learnt as a consequence of the COVID reset that some of the applicants were working on what we call in Kaitāia the slow-coach type"; whereas I am akin to the figure out of American folklore:Along came JonesFast-talkingSlow-walkingSo I don't want anyone to feel that their contracts cannot be entered into. The sluggishness is no longer with the Crown; it's with the other parties.This politician I can assure you working with the other three Ministers—we are insistent that velocity is the flavour of the day but most importantly we have to assure that we're not entering into a space where Crown funding may be at danger. The other side of the Chamber should expect nothing less.MAUREEN PUGH (National): Can I just follow on from another topic that came up during the Estimates hearing and that was the Minister's commitment to providing the information about the full-time equivalents that have been created so far. As we all know the Provincial Growth Fund is designed to increase the productivity potential in the regions and so it would be very reassuring I'm sure for us all to know that the money that has been invested thus far has created some really impressive figures in terms of full-time equivalents for the investment to date. Does the Minister have that information at hand? Will he share it with the House please?Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Regional Economic Development): I rather suspect my time is drawing to an end but what a great point for me to contribute to. Officials are continuing to do their analysis and they are uncovering a treasure trove of positive statistics as to how many jobs have been created as a consequence of this highly celebrated OECD-leading initiative. Once the officials have briefed the finance Minister myself the Minister of Economic Development and the Hon David Parker then a point in time will be identified where this information can be shared but it would be unwise for us to share this information in the absence of robust advice from the officials. But rest assured over the next eight weeks it'll be well and truly aired all over Aotearoa."