Minister unaware of official doubts
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he was unaware of official advice warning him off funding a West Coast rubbish burning scheme.
This is despite an email provided by his office suggesting the warning from the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) was raised with him before the funding was announced.
On February 21, the MfE told the Provincial Growth Fund the proposed waste-to-energy project on the West Coast had serious economic and environmental flaws.
Two days later, Jones announced a $1 billion regional development package including $350,000 for a feasibility study into the project.
The funding was suspended after the announcement following revelations an Ashburton businessman Gerard Gallagher was an integral part of the company behind the scheme.
Gallagher is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office over private property dealings conducted while he was a public servant working for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority in Christchurch.
When the MfE advice was referred to Jones yesterday, he said he had not seen it.
However, an email dated February 21, from regional development director John Doorbar to MfE counterparts, said their concerns had been raised ‘‘with Minister Jones and we’ve come up with a pretty good compromise that ensures that the MfE issues are addressed and that we don’t stop all hope on the West Coast’’.
The Doorbar email said: ‘‘The feasibility studies can go ahead with a requirement that MfE are involved in assessment of the project and component parts. This will give opportunities for the issues that you raise to be raised and assessed before commercial decisions are considered.’’
Jones said Doorbar would be correct about raising the advice with him but he could not remember the discussion.
He said the MfE’s concerns would have made no difference to his decision. ‘‘I don’t recall the advice but I’m prepared to stand by the fact that John did tell me but the fact I can’t recall it bothers me not one jot. The prospect of it embarrassing me is inversely related to the truth. It takes a hell of a lot more to embarrass me.
‘‘It would not have made any difference to me anyway.
‘‘If the thing dies as a consequence of a feasibility study that’s why private sector and public sector should do feasibility studies,’’ Jones said.
The MfE advice, released under the Official Information Act, warned the project relied upon ‘‘unrealistic expectations’’.
Its backers did not understand the South Island waste market and had insufficient material to keep the plant running, it said.
A business case and budget was inadequate and backers showed misunderstandings of the New Zealand context including the ‘‘erroneous assumption all landfills are required to close by 2040’’.