Just a few weeks ago the Provincial Growth Fund Unit released a guide to help prospective PGF recipients know what the Government is looking to invest in.

It is perhaps something you'd have thought would have been worked out, before the doors were flung open to those trying to get a piece of the three billion dollar pie.

It's been one of the criticisms of this government - a propensity to kick the can down the road, or stall with a working group or two while it tries to hash out the finer details or figure out how something should work.

But not this time, the self-styled champion of the regions Shane Jones was ambitious and wanted to cast that net wide, straight away.

It seems though, six months on, those taking the bait weren't quite the big fish Jones had been hoping to catch.

So some direction was given from MBIE in a snazzy guide.

And now the direction is even more pointed with the announcement that $240 million of one of Shane Jones' pet projects - the Provincial Growth Fund is going to another pet project - the One Billion Trees programme.

About half of that will be going to grants, and the other towards partnership projects.

Jones says this will get an extra $60 million new trees in the ground over the next three years. It will be open to private landowners, government agencies, NGOs and iwi and the focus will be on areas where there are currently limited commercial drivers for investment.

But those wanting in on this will have to show they have a plan for providing training and employment opportunities.

Jones says his trees programme will create around 1000 jobs for Kiwis.

And while these will initially be at the low end of the skills spectrum, Jones admitted that a criteria for the CV, at first, will be that you're strong and fit enough to get out there will a spade and plant trees but the focus is on up-skilling, and creating jobs that can be life-long, prosperous careers in an industry that will keep growing.

But this $240 million announced is ON TOP of the $245 million kick-starter that's already been committed to the billion trees programme from the Provincial Growth Fund.

That investment for 1,000 jobs may not sound like the best bang for taxpayers' buck.

But Shane Jones says the Trees programme's real value lies beyond just regional development.

He says every tree that's planted is not only employing someone, it's allowing us to rely on forestry to do the heavy lifting to meet a number of our climate change obligations.

And if we overlook that, we're shortchanging the policy.

A policy that is ensuring nearly half a billion of a $3 billion fund is quite literally going towards growth, the growth of trees and growth in the number of wins for New Zealand First.