Regional Development Minister Shane Jones talked to Joseph Los’e about why he still backs spending money in the provinces.
The last time Shane Jones was in the hot seat, the Labour-led coalition Government dispersed $3 billion of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) before Jones and NZ First were booted out of Government and Parliament in 2020.
Three years later NZ First made it back and with National and Act formed a coalition that this week celebrated one year in power. Jones again has a massive war chest as Minister of Regional Development and the $1.2b NZ First negotiated as part of its coalition package in a Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF).
That’s a lot of taxpayer money placed in one man’s hands, and Jones is not afraid to splash the cash, like the Monopoly Man, to the regions to stimulate or reignite communities facing tough times.
Jones knows he’s not every Māori person’s cup of tea. In fact, he’ll admit he’s not every Pākehā person’s cuppa either.
He said the $1.2b RIF money negotiated by NZ First as part of its coalition agreement was there to benefit all New Zealanders.
Jones’ use of the PGF fund under the Labour Government (see graphic below) was heavily weighted towards his own area of Te Tai Tokerau, one of the poorest in the country.
He makes no apologies for using the Crown’s credit card to jump start or bring back to life good businesses.
“The unblind philosophy is that from time to time the Crown has to use its balance sheet to drive development outcomes,” Jones said.
“Take the Te Tai Tokerau irrigation project. For Māori landowners, if you don’t have irrigation or water, the land is just an emotional heirloom,” he said of the PGF funding that supported that project.
Shane Jones, New Zealand First at Kaingaroa Community Centre opening and opening of the Kawerau Off-Highway Road. Photo / Supplied
You name it, Jones has been called it - good and bad - and as far as spreading the pūtea (money) around the country, he willingly pushes cash to regions where communities are struggling with job losses and the cost of living.
“There have been many historic funding grants already given and one of particular relevance to te iwi Māori is the $16m that went to the Whakatōhea Mussels (in Ōpōtiki),” Jones said.
That in itself is ironic because on one level, the Government is overturning the seabed and foreshore legislation and on the other funding mussel farms.
“Each rohe has its own challenges but the NZ First philosophy is a willingness to get the Crown balance sheet working for the regions.
“We are doing everything we can to enable an export-led recovery, regional prosperity and jobs.
“The Whakatōhea grant shows our consistency to broaden an industry that has suffered because of a Ruth Richardson approach to economic development.”
Jones said he is over “juvenile debates”, led by green ideology.
“Our current regional economic challenges are enormous, and while we have to be judicious, we cannot be mean-spirited,” he said.
“The Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) can attract iwi and private sector money.
“Our party believes Māori outcomes are best by industry, jobs and economic self sufficiency. Yes, heritage and constitutional outcomes are important but are always trumped by economic resilience.”
Jones says the RIF will drive regional productivity, prosperity and resilience by focusing on:
Resilience infrastructure to improve regions’ ability to absorb, adapt and respond to stresses and shocks
Enabling infrastructure to support growth by ensuring regions are well-connected and productive.
He has been on a national tour, opening new facilities and discussing further investments in regions.
“The RIF will look for investment and co-investment projects that support the priorities of the regions themselves,” Jones says.
“We want to invest where it counts. That’s why RIF investments will align with these regional priorities, ensure there is regional co-investment and, where possible, leverage existing regional development investments.”
The Regional Infrastructure Fund is primarily a capital fund and money is provided through a mix of loan and equity investments. Grants are available in limited cases.
In this year’s Budget, Jones announced the first projects to be funded through the RIF would be an initial $200 million for flood resilience infrastructure.
Shanes Jones on the West Coast last weekend talking about mineral royalties returning to the region.
Jones said he laughed when he heard he was “the slush fund minister” and that’s what got him and NZ First voted out of Parliament in 2020.
“That was reflective of the volatile economic tide. But every region we go to now is appreciative of the RIF and cynics will say ‘of course they are because it’s free money’.
“The reality is the vast majority of projects reflect deficits, whether it is the Blenheim Library, the Māori Battalion museum, or the Tairāwhiti roads.
Jones says the reception he receives from areas like Taranaki, where the Government has legislated for deep sea mining, is clouded by the few and not the many.
Te Pāti Māori, along with the Greens, have been staunch opponents of all mining operations.
“Te Pāti Māori will not rest until seabed mining is banned in Aotearoa once and for all. We will fight this company, and the Government backing them, every step of the way” Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said.
“The iron sands off the coast of Taranaki contain the extremely valuable mineral vanadium, possibly the first time in history in the western world that a mineral has been listed in a political document,” Jones said of the chemical element, which has a symbol V and the atomic number 23.
“If we are able to extract that mineral, we will have the third largest deposit after Russia and China of a mineral essential to the decarbonisation journey.
“The very people who fret about burning the planet complain that we can’t mine vanadium.
“Our economic circumstances are so dire, we struggle to meet the costs of our military, our hospitals, our infrastructure, our schools.
“We can no longer indulge green fantasies and I hope to be the minister who keeps leading the trade-off decisions.”
Shane Jones with NZ High Commissioner to Australia Andrew Needs and Rachel Brooke, First Secretary in Perth.
Jones has also been wooing mine bosses in Australia, as he explores their energy platforms.
“My favourite saying is I’ll take coal before dole any day,” Jones said. “I know there are iwi making a song and dance about me but coal before dole.”
Joseph Los’e is an award winning journalist and joined NZME in 2022 as kaupapa Māori editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport and was also editor of the NZ Truth. Prior to joining NZME, he worked for 12 years for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.
