SpeechFLETCHER TABUTEAU (Deputy Leader—NZ First): Thank you Madam Speaker for this opportunity to speak to this incredibly important piece of legislation the Venture Capital Fund Bill. I just want to debunk some of the words put forward unfortunately by Mr Bayly who on this side of the House we seem to have a respect for in his knowledge of those things financial.Hon Kris Faafoi: Don't go too far.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: No no I'll restrain myself. I'm certainly not surprised that Mr Goldsmith was confused in his contribution to the House earlier. I put it to the members here this afternoon both Mr Bayly and Mr Goldsmith spoke about using taxpayers' money in these risky venture capital funds and in fact Mr Bayly went so far as to assert that in terms of the investment lifecycle of this kind of product the venture capital stage was the most risky stage.Andrew Bayly: It is.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: No it's not Mr Bayly. It is not the most risky stage. Andrew Bayly: What is then? Pray tell.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Well the first one that comes to mind is seed—seed funding for—Andrew Bayly: All right OK.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: All right" he says "All right." And so what I want to remind Mr Goldsmith and those members opposite is that that party opposite have mechanisms in place which this Government has picked up for Government to invest at the seed and research funding stage of development of businesses as they progress through that—Andrew Bayly: Sounds like a lot of risk to me.FLETCHER TABUTEAU: That's the point Mr Bayly. It is a lot of risk which the National Party was more than willing to take on in terms of contributing to firms and enterprises at that incredibly risky stage of the investment cycle. And actually here we have a conversation about an acknowledged gap in the capital market in New Zealand a conversation that has been going on—well certainly in my time in Parliament. But before that the conversation has been long and arduous especially in the last 10 years when the National Party was in Government—a conversation about a lamented missed opportunity: the fact that there was a lack of a meaningful venture capital strategy and that a Government wasn't willing to participate. And so begrudgingly we have two contributions from the members opposite who acknowledge that there are possibilities here and I'm grateful to hear actually—and it's an important point to make—that it will be the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation who will be overseeing and administrating this fund. It was nice to hear the concession from the shadow spokesperson opposite that that fund and those managers have a long history of success. Mr Bayly mentioned 30 percent and I think one year they did actually make a 30 percent return on investment. But on average the return of that fund has been 10 percent. That is world leading and it is that kind of expertise that is being kind of—I'll say—"injected" into a gap in the market where there are players both private and existing who want to participate in this venture capital fund market. And this will facilitate not only capacity and knowledge but obviously the money that's being brought into this conversation.As I said it's been a gap in the New Zealand capital market. Particularly what this fund I hope will achieve is in that space where we have relatively large opportunities—that $5 million to $20 million mark—where investment opportunities exist but go begging. What this fund should achieve is enough funds to be invested to take those screen companies to that next stage through a process where not only are we availing them of money but what we hope to see here is an attraction of high-quality management: the ability to build a good product proposition to attract those larger investors from New Zealand and around the world that will help grow our capital investments in those firms. New Zealand First has argued for many years that this is something that needs to be done. New Zealand companies have been lacking capital of size and we know that they haven't been able to grow. They've been stymied. They have stayed small or they have been selectively acquired by foreign speculators from around the world. There have been examples where companies have listed publicly prematurely as it were. So this is about having a better domestic venture capital market to build this capacity here in New Zealand. New Zealanders take pride in our entrepreneurial spirit and in the innovation and the risk taking of our businessmen and businesswomen. As Minister David Parker said in his contribution we have a right to be proud and we should be focusing on these opportunities. The Minister spoke specifically about tech opportunities and I know it's one of the fastest-growing sectors in New Zealand. In fact I was in Nelson this weekend helping to invest through the Provincial Growth Fund in artificial intelligence opportunities. An opportunity there to grow—Stuart Smith: New Zealand First could do with some of that. FLETCHER TABUTEAU: Yes perhaps an opportunity for the members opposite to at least get some kind of intelligence in their caucus—just some kind of intelligence. So grow capacity grow performance—and the main driver as the Minister outlined to the House this afternoon is that this is a fundamental drive to support and grow productivity within the New Zealand economy. So I acknowledge the Minister for his efforts. This is a gap that has been identified. It's a hugely important bill and a massive step in the right direction that New Zealand First absolutely supports but this is also good for New Zealand firms and it will be good for this country's economy. I think as I draw to a conclusion that this is taking the gap in the market—I mentioned to Mr Bayly earlier about the initial research the seed-funding opportunities that already exist and there are those markets in New Zealand but this is the gap. We've been told for years that this is the gap. So this is about being ambitious for innovation and for entrepreneurship in the New Zealand market and as the Minister said that will be true especially in the tech sector. This is about a vision where New Zealand firms not only start up in New Zealand but where New Zealand firms grow to a size that they present themselves to a world market a global market in a position where they can compete globally. That is exciting and that is ambitious for those businessmen and businesswomen who would love to take on that opportunity. This is enabling and I am truly truly excited to be talking in support of this legislation. I have spoken for longer than I intended so I simply say to the House that this is good sensible ambitious legislation. I thank the members opposite for their cautious support at this stage. I am confident that they will see in select committee just how powerful this legislation can be for those firms that we are talking about today and the New Zealand economy and our ambition to grow productivity. Thank you Madam Speaker."