Labour would axe PGF

Labour would axe the Provincial Growth Fund if it wins a second term, replacing it with a

$200 million fund. Money that the Government has not been able to spend from the $3 billion PGF would be reallocated to other projects, according to a Labour policy announcement. The fundwas a key achievement of NZ First and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones. Instead of the PGF, the Labour would give $200m to a newRegional Strategic Partnership Fund. The funding is one fifteenth of whatwas given to the PGF. The newfund would create regional economic development plans that would guide where the remaining unallocated funding from the PGF would be spent and would link up with regional development agencies to decide where future government investmentwould go. The Provincial Development Unit, the bureaucracy that sits over the PGF, would survive. It would collaborate with regional economic development agencies to identify parts of plans that may need central government support, and help establish a funding arrangement that best fits the project.