Shane Jones tells Rotorua businesses not to delay

Shane Jones speaking at Rotorua Chamber of Commerce event. Photo / Andrew Warner

"Do not delay," was a key message delivered by Shane Jones during his lunch presentation to the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce.

Jones, the Regional Economic Development, Forestry and Infrastructure Minister, told today's crowd in Rotorua that applications for the $3 billion Provincial Growth Fund would address neglect across regional New Zealand including infrastructure that had not been supported.

He highlighted that many of Rotorua's infrastructure projects would meet the criteria but to remember that politicians lived in time cycles and there was "29 months until the next election".

The Growth Fund aims to look at investment capable of generating foreign exchange earnings and achieving outcomes that would not otherwise have been possible without the fund.

"It will have enough flexibility to look at grants and buying equity or shares in various enterprises. For applications under $20 million Hon Grant Robertson, Finance Minister, Hon Phil Twyford, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, and Hon David Parker, Economic Development, along with myself, will be capable of making decisions. Beyond this the entirety of Cabinet will be involved," Jones said.

The planting of a billion trees and the reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) were central to the minister's forestry portfolio. This included a preference for a system that could be implemented irrespective of the nature of the land ownership.

Irrigation projects would not be funded because Jones claimed they led to intensification at a time that diversification and a move away from farming was needed.

"Funding to advance water storage and water management would gain priority."

Jones also referenced the release of the draft government policy statement on land transport, urging businesses to make their views heard.