Jamie Mackay: The Country host on Shane Jones visiting 15 provincial centres to promote his $1.2 billion fund

Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is set to begin a 15-stop tour next month to promote the Government's $1.2 billion fund for regional infrastructure.

The Regional Infrastructure Fund will be spent over a three-year period and aims to fund projects designed around boosting growth, productivity and resilience.

The Country's Jamie Mackay explains further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And host of the Country Jamie McKay is with this
THISCE evening. He had Shane Jones on the show today, Jamie,
how is he rolling out his PGF two point zero?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah, well that's what it is. He's only got one
point two billion this time around, Jack as a peaster.
Yea peanuts. He had three billion to splash around last
time under de Cinder. So we'll see how he goes.
And well, I guess on your show today you've gone
from one great Northland MP, my old mate Grant mcnational
to Shane Jones. So Martina, Shane the Prince of the provinces.

(00:30):
He's off on a series of summits around the region,
fifteen of them. He's got that one point two billion
dollars to spend in the regions to improve productivity. He
wants to grow and strengthen the economy. These summits are
going to take place over the next six to eight
months and I think the first one is in Nelson
on August the twelfth.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see. I
mean it is. It has to be said, so much
more focused than the first iteration of the PDF, which
is not a high heard all to clear, but yeah,
you know, it's going to be very interesting to see
how that has rolled out. Now the primary sector is
going to have to rely on new tools and technologies
in order to lower it to missions if it is
to hit targets outlined in the government's newly released draft

(01:13):
emissions reduction plan.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
That's right, And as you alluded to, Jack Shane Jones
was on the country today and he wasn't having a
bar of decarbonization if it meant de industrialization. And here's
what he had to say.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
We're going to be very careful that decarbonization doesn't become
de industrialization. But these green hobbits are not going to
be permitted by New Zealand. First New Zealand to undermine
the existence of our industry. We have the ability to
achieve net net climate change positive outcomes. This notion that

(01:51):
you have to cut down every chimney stack and that
you have to close down industry to enjoy some green
nirvana when India, when are building coal fired power stations
every day, in my view, least bear the falsehoods of
the Green Party. But most importantly, I'm never going to
worship at the altar of climate change gods if you

(02:13):
want God go to church.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
So there you go, Jack. That's what Martua Shane had
to say. And of course we're talking about the government's
newly released draft emissions reduction Plan and that they reaffirmed
when they released this their commitment to price emissions in
agricultural for the agricultural sector, should I say from twenty thirty,
so there's no free lunch there beyond twenty thirty some

(02:37):
of the tools shed and this is one of the
issues that farmers had Jack. They're saying, we want to
do it, we want to reduce our emissions, but give
us some tools to do it, and things like low methane,
sheep genetics, vaccines, you name it. All these things that
are coming onto the market. They're expecting some of these
new tools may be available to New Zealand pasture based

(02:58):
farmers from twenty seven, twenty eight and the other one.
And this is Shane's solution. He would just keep planting
trees till he got to a carbon neutral sort of situation.
The government's keen to partner with the private sector to
plant trees. This includes native forestation on crown land. Wonderful idea,
but the trouble with native forest Jack for anyone who's

(03:18):
tried to establish them. They're slow and they take a
lot of tender love and care as opposed to a
dirty older or shouldn't say a dirty old an exotic
pine tree. You can plunk them in the ground and
away they go. It's instant gratification. Natives aren't that easy, No.

Speaker 1 (03:32):
They certainly not. Hey, thanks, Jamie, appreciated as ever. That
is Jamie Mackay, who is the host of the Country.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
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