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The Taranaki settlement of Parihaka is getting up to $14m to build a new visitor centre and to preserve its history of non-violence resistance.

Regional economic development minister Shane Jones said the money from the Provincial Growth Fund would also make infrastructure improvements, boost the local economy and provide jobs.

“The Provincial Growth Fund investment will be used to improve infrastructure, create up to 130 jobs and provide a visitor centre to house traditional and modern tāonga to educate visitors about the history of Parihaka,” Jones said.

Parihaka was established in 1866 for Māori disenfranchised from their land but was attacked and occupied by Crown troops in 1881. The Crown apologised for the incident in 2017.

“When the Crown apologised in 2017 for this shocking episode in our history, its sincerest hope was that Parihaka and the Crown could acknowledge their shared past, move beyond it, and begin to work together to fulfil the vision of peaceful co-existence that Tohu and Te Whiti described.

“It is now our hope that this investment will go some way towards achieving this vision. Parihaka is remains a vital symbol of non-violent action and our shared heritage. All New Zealanders should know its story and this project will help tell that story.”

Jones added the new visitor facility would house taonga and an exhibition of the Parihaka story, “told by the people of Parihaka”. Retail space and a café would also be built.

The money, which was going to the Parihaka Papakāinga Trust, would also make infrastructure improvements such as a new bridge, carpark and space for wānanga, conferences, workshops and tour groups.

South Taranaki mayor Phil Nixon said the people of Parihaka had “waited a long time for this to happen”.

“The investment comes at a time when the region is looking to support the local construction sector and is therefore particularly welcome,” he said.

“The story of Parihaka is one which everyone needs to learn and understand.”

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The Government has invested another $4.5m in the Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Māori Art Gallery in Whangarei.

The money from the Provincial Growth Fund takes the total invested from the vehicle into the $33.2m project to $18.4m.

“The art centre is estimated to bring in an economic benefit of $26m to the region and more than 250,000 visitors to Whangarei annually, in line with the number of visitors the Hundertwasser toilets attract in Kawakawa,” regional economic development minister Shane Jones said.

“With this increased activity happening in the region comes an exceptional opportunity for job growth, and for economic, social and cultural revitalisation. There are currently 65 people working on the project right now.”

In 2018, the PGF provided $13.9m towards the centre’s construction, with completion scheduled for late 2021. The remaining required funding has been raised through a combination of local and other central government investment, as well as private donations and community fundraising.

Whangarei Art Museum Trust chief executive Kathleen Drumm, who is leading the project, said the centre would be “an iconic new cultural and tourism destination for Northland”.

“It will attract tens of thousands of visitors each year who will spend in the city and wider region, so the benefits will be shared by all.”

Drumm said progress on site was now back to normal after stopping because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

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The cash is made up of repurposed PGF money and unallocated funding from the Government’s Regional Investment Opportunities Contingency.

“Our focus is on the next two to six months but projects that provide longer-term economic benefits, support productivity and strengthen critical infrastructure in the surge regions will remain a priority for investment,” Jones said.

As a result, PGF applicants struggling to get their projects off the ground because of consenting deadlines or co-funding issues would be told this week that their funding had been taken.

The money would be used to help the immediate redeployment of displaced workers and new employment, speed of implementing them, and visibility so that communities could see the work happening.

Raglan Wharf

Tourism projects given the go-ahead included $2.5m to upgrade Raglan Wharf with more berths and better access for commercial and recreational operators and customers visiting retail and hospitality businesses there.

The Westport waterfront was also a winner with $1.86m to redevelop a pedestrian and cycle bridge from the town centre to the riverfront, also providing greater access to PGF-funded project, the Kawatiri Coastal trail and allow trail-related businesses close access to the town centre.

Apollo Foods in Hawke’s Bay received $2.9m for new technology and to upskill workers, while $209,500 was given to Otago engineering firm Te Pari Products to buy equipment that will increase its capacity to supply the primary sector with livestock-handling equipment.

Jones announced larger allocations including up to $100m for waterway fencing, riparian planting and stock water reticulation, $60m for road and rail investments and up to $70m for upgrades of marae, town halls, Pasifika churches and war memorials.

The $60m for local roading and rail projects would be spread across Bay of Plenty, Manawatu-Whanganui, West Coast, Wairarapa, Taranaki, Top of the South and Waikato.

Jones said he expected the projects to create hundreds of jobs throughout the country.

Local roading schemes involved constructing footpaths, cycleways, playgrounds, vegetation management and roadside clearing and would create at least 600 jobs.

The rail projects would fund deferred maintenance like culvert cleaning and drainage improvements in the regions, “which would create 200 jobs”, Jones said.

He added that there had been changes to the Provincial Development Unit’s contracting process to speed up the distribution of the money.

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The funding meant work could start immediately on a $4.5m development project that involved the construction of a 40-bed accommodation and education centre to host school and community groups, and vocational training programmes.

It would also help fund a new Nocturnal Boardwalk to enable visitors to experience the forest at night, a Carving Whare to host traditional carving workshops by Rangitāne whakairo, and up to 10 motorhome sites.

The developments would be completed within 18 months and was expected to extend visitor access and use of the reserve by nearly 50% with overnight stays, nocturnal and dawn guided tours and an extended environment and ecology education programme. The education programme would be developed in conjunction with schools and tertiary education providers.

The Pūkaha board said the investment sends a “bold message” about the future of the centre, as PGF investment would play a significant role in the economic recovery of the Tararua and Wairarapa regions.

“We have enormous confidence in our future as we work through this difficult period in our history,” said Pūkaha board chair Bob Francis.

“As well as making Pūkaha more financially sustainable, it is a positive development for both Tararua and Wairarapa, with job creation, economic stimulus, and more reasons for domestic travellers to explore this beautiful part of New Zealand. It will make a real difference.”

Regional economic development minister Shane Jones said the Pūkaha Wildlife Ecology Programme joined a list of more than 60 PGF-funded projects able to start work under alert level 3.

“It’s now even more essential we invest in regional economies which will play an essential part in the national recovery of Covid-19,” he said.

“As our regions begin to recover from the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important they are supported by the Government. This investment will help boost the local economy, create jobs and improve an asset that attracts thousands of visitors each year. Domestic tourism will become even more important as we wait for international tourism to recover over the next few years.”

Pūkaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre comprises 942ha native forest, located on the border of the Tararua and Wairarapa regions. It is home to endangered wildlife species such as kiwi, takahē, kōkako, kākā and longfin eels. More than 40,000 people visited the centre in 2019.

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The new criteria included:

• Immediate support for the redeployment of displaced employees into critical sectors including horticulture and manufacturing in the immediate term, and later through public works activities
• National programmes delivered across all regions that would provide support for employment and community resilience into the longer term, such as apprenticeships
• Business investments that would generate job creation opportunities in the short term and support the rebuild of the economy beyond the recovery, particularly in the primary sector and manufacturing
• Infrastructure investments under $10m that would support employment in the short term and strengthen fundamental infrastructure in surge regions.

Regional economic development minister Shane Jones said PDU officials were contacting PGF applicants and fund recipients to gather information on which projects would be able to continue, despite the impacts of Covid-19.

Of those projects, which could be scaled up, accelerated, or refined to “more usefully contribute to the Government’s Covid-19 response”, said Jones.

Ministers would receive advice about which projects could be prioritised.

The PGF would be “busier than ever” as it provided financial support for the regions, including key projects within the $100m worker redeployment package announced last month.

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“Ministers will soon consider whether unallocated funds should be redirected into regional projects that will have an almost immediate impact in line with the Government’s Covid-19 economic response,” said Jones.

Projects that could provide initial economic support over the next two to six months and aid economic recovery longer term would be prioritised.

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The $3bn Provincial Growth Fund is being repurposed to combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government’s Provincial Development Unit said on Friday that it was “working across government, business, and industry to protect jobs and businesses as the global economic downturn due to the Covid-19 outbreak continues to impact on our regions”.

The fund has committed more than $150m in grants and loans to tourism projects across the country including the Hundertwasser Art Centre in Whangarei, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts’ Sky Waka and luxury options for KiwiRail’s TranzAlipine and Coastal Pacific services.

“The PGF is still in action and will be even busier over the next few weeks as it rolls out more financial support for the regions,” said the PDU.

About $600m remains unallocated from the fund, which was set up to deploy it’s $3bn over three years starting in 2018.

“Funds that are unallocated from the PGF are to be redirected into regional projects that will have an immediate impact to support workers and businesses, and stimulate local economies,” said the PDU.

More information would be released by the Government in the coming weeks about how and where the fund would invest.

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