Kyoda.
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. Regional development has been a major focus of the coalition government. The fast Track Bill, the return of oil and gas exploration and the Regional Infrastructure Fund is all promised to get work back to the regions and help them thrive. And the man running the show is the so called Marthawa of Mining and the Prince of the Provinces, Shane Jones.
He's the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries, Regional Development and Resources and there's not an endangered frog or a surfing hippie that's going to get in his way. Today on the Front Page, the Minister joins us to discuss his reckons on what's best for the regions and whether you can find climate change. At the same time as backing provincial New Zealand.
Minister, you're hosting fifteen regional growth summits around them or too.
What's been the talk on the ground so.
Far, well, each area is concerned about a decline in economic activity, each area working to bring forward different proposals. I've said to them, please bring them forward in an integrated fashion and hopefully proposals that won't be caught in some thicket of not being able to get a statutory consens It's probably fair to say that they're very open and embracing that going out there to face the public.
I've taken some of my colleagues with me. I was an Invercargill Tama the DOC Minister, because obviously DOC is a major force down there in the South Island. I was there with the Minister of Tertiary Education, the local member. When I've been to Babe Plenty Podd McLay, he came
and spoke. So although I've been the tip of the spear, I have been supported by other MPs and other ministers as well, and it's given an opportunity, I reckon for some business leaders and civic leaders to have CONNOHU get the con corridor engagement with us in their space.
Well, you're known as the Prince of the Provinces. That's got quite a ring to it, don't you think.
Haha. You know, anything that appeals at a poetical level has to have purpose and genuine meaning at a practical level.
The alliteration's quite nice as well, wasn't it.
I'm a bit of an illiterate to king.
Look, one of the main killers in the regions at the moment seems to be power prices. We've had a number of businesses shut down in recent months. How concerned are you for these towns that might be reliant on just one core business to keep everyone employed well.
Without a doubt, and some of our areas we're going through a major structural adjustment. It disturbs me deeply that the current market settings and the behavior of our large power companies otherwise known as Gen Taylor's, is such that they are unable to offer competitive power prices to a
range of industrial users. Now that's both a legacy problem, but it makes me incredibly apprehensive if what we're going to witness over the short to medium terms the de industrialization of New Zealand, that's deeply at odds with what New Zealand First stands for. And of course the New Zealand First Party has campaigned long and hard to change the settings of our electricity market and we have got some work underway involving the Commerce Commission, the Electricity Authority.
We've got an independent analysis and review about to take place. I've long since made my mind up that unless we can deliver energy security and more affordable energy prices, then we're doing our country a major disservice.
So if you've had eight hundred and eighty five thousand people going to this one outlet, you can get a certain massive unit cost of power reduction for older people. That was our idea, and difficult it is trying to get them to understand that they went down this other idea.
A whole lot of people are getting powered compensational the winter time who can afford it, and yet it's still not enough for a lot of people who can't afford it where in the very cold regions or if they're in the wrong house, they're still going to feel the cold for about six months a year.
You've promised the likes of rare frogs and other wildlife will not be allowed to get in the way of economic development. You said, no longer would regional jobs be held ransom or hijacked by a random frog or multi colored skink. Can you talk me through that, because you've got to know that that's rubbed some people up the wrong way.
Well, no one is going to go to bed tonight doubting where I stand in relation to the centrality of great and the priority that the country should place upon development. I've been constantly shouted down by the NGOs and the opposition politicians, but there are battalions of silent New Zealanders who quietly agree with me. I'm not saying that we're going to go on a massive extinction drive, but I'm not going to sit back and allow the weaponization.
You promised the rare frogs and other wildlife will not be allowed to get in a way of economic You said, no longer would regional jobs be held ransom or hijacked by a random.
Frog or multi skill. He taught me through that, because got to know that that's the wrong way.
Too many special intrascripts to the detriment of jobs, growth and economic resilience in regional New Zealand.
What if it's a family of brown spotted key we getting in the way of something.
I think that there's no shortage of options for the developers, road builders, infrastructure builders to mitigate. And if it requires an amendment a project within reason, that's I think what would be expected. But this business of saying that the country cannot advance because of a couple of dozen kiwis that can be translocated to another area.
I don't buy that, speaking of NGOs, can climate change in regional development happen both at the same time.
I believe so, and in fact it is happening in an integrated way. That the deeper riddle is how do we afford the costs associated we're restructuring our society to meet climate goals if we don't have an economic surplus. I think that the pendulum here in New Zealand swinging back to a more sensible location in relation to climate change, shrillness and historyonics. More and more people realize that climate
change is only one problem. We've got a host of other severe problems in New Zealand and it's certainly, in my view, not the priority problem.
Well, you've mentioned that there's a of a hysteria around it. Are you downplaying climate change?
Oh? I'm just saying that of all the challenges confronting me as a New Zealand politician and confronting our nation, climate change is not the be all an indoor climate change in my view, over the last regime has been turned into a religion, and when I'm on a religious experience, I've got other ways of enjoying that rather than chanting climate change odes.
Do you think Northland has been ignored for too long?
I think a lot of regions can make that claim, but in my experience that the fact that Northland is the only place in our national roading infrastructure that's got a toll on it shows that there's been a habit of regarding the North as a sunny destination but suitable for a quick visit, a spot of R and R and back to a more profitable part of New Zealand. And I hope to turn that perception around.
I think I'd invite anyone to take a stab at driving up North and then they'll probably realize how neglected it has been.
Hey, yeah, the road is a goat track. There's a particularly egregious piece of roading up there, known as Brn Durman's. But look a host of regions are hammering Wellington to have their roads fixed up. The ty Tolkido Road probably worse than most, but I don't want to deprecate the fact that other regions are concerned as well.
Greenpeace seems to think that you're in cahoots with mining, saying Shane Jones notoriously connected to and funded by the mining industry is now the Minister for Resources.
What do you make of that statement?
No, the funding donations that I've declared are from the fishing industry.
Are you interherites with the fishing industry chain.
I used to be the Chairman of Sea Laws, I used to be the chairman of the MALDI Fisheries Commission. I've had a long and proud association with fisheries and I regard myself as the most exquisitely qualified politician to have ever held the fisheries portfolio. Now, I know this annoys some of the Green beetles, but they're never ever going to accept my pro industry, pro growth agenda, and I just have to acknowledge that their players and their
stakeholders in the broader political system. In respect of mining, we are going to turbocharge mining. We are going to increase our export revenue from mining, our job prospects in mining, and it'll be done within guardrails. But we're not going to have mining tainted and stigmatized by false information and have it blighted by histrionics. And that's pretty much what the Green Party and their fellow travelers represent.
Well, the government plans to repeal the twenty eighteen ban on new offshore oil and gas exploration. Hey, and that's been seen as a controversial move.
What do you make of it?
Oh, No, it's an inoffensive set of changes. It's just designed to increase New Zealand's fuel and energy resilience. Once again, there's been a lot of catastrophizing and it just depends whether or not New Zealand wants to enjoy economic sovereignty a greater level of national resilience. I don't pay much attention to these screeching voices who are trying to confuse our young people in the education system that the planet
is boiling. All of that is self serving rhetoric designed to boost green parties appeal to the voting public, and there hopefully more and more people are accepting that you need balance and common sense in these issues. We don't need any more bouts of verbal diarrhea.
Well, climate change protesters do seem to follow you around wherever you go, Shane. When you rock up somewhere and you see them standing out front, what do you think I engage with them.
And confront them straight away. I don't go there to be antagonistic, but I allow them to see that we may have a different view, but I will not be cowed and longless we're respectful to each other and no one's trying to punch me in the o's because rest assured the person who does that to me, a Green member or a gang member, they'll live to regret it.
We've got to be really clear that absolutely we should be having infrastructure projects, but that are determined by those affected. And when we see zombie projects coming back to life, those are not being determined. They are only being driven by those who are looking atter the super wealthy. And that's what this government's been about from day one.
What do you make of people pouring over your diary and seeing who, from what companies, from what sectors you're having dinner with?
Do some people just not trust you?
Oh? I just think that it's a level of fascination that had a small minority of nosy neighbors have as to how I'm doing my job. There's a higher level of scrutiny, I think for anyone who has outspoken and support of mining and commercial commercialization of our natural resources, including fisheries, it just comes with the territory.
When it comes to mining and oil and gas exploration, is there a way to do it that we haven't done before.
Is there a way to do it that doesn't harm the environment as much? Do you think?
Oh, yeah, confident that we'll have the guard rails in place. But at the end of the day, if people want to maintain the quality of life that we've got as a first world nation, then we're going to have to use our resources. And when you use the resources, you will be disrupting the natural environment. And these are the trade offs that I look forward to not only justifying, but leading.
And when it comes to timeline, I mean when can we see that oil and exploration.
Hopefully by the prior to Christmas the bill will be fairly embedded within the statutory landscape.
And is that the same with the fast Track Bill?
Yeah? Yeah, you know, we're going through the process at the moment of sort of shepherding the fast Track legislation through Parliament and I look forward to it being passed as soon as possible.
And Minister in twenty twenty six, when we're heading back to the polls, what would you consider a measure of success that you would like those voters in the region to hold you against.
I think that some of the larger projects that are in the fast track, that they've managed to navigate the statutory consent process. That we have dedicated the entirety of the Regional in Infrastructure Fund to projects such as flooding resilience, and that we've kept our word and that is the promise of delivery as a New Zealand First MP as a part of the coalition government. And mate, I must go see ya.
Thanks for joining us, Minister. That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at enzadherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sells and Richard Martin, who is also our sound engineer.
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
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