Goldsmith Paul: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoldsmith Paul: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 30 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12067. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PAUL GOLDSMITH (National):I suppose it is the Opposition’s role to talk down New Zealand’s prospects in some respects. But I have certainly observed over the years that the better leaders avoid that trap and talk up New Zealand’s prospects and talk about the positive things. It is painful to listen to the moral sanctimony and moral superiority coming from members on the other side about how wonderful they are yet this is the crowd who are engaging even as we speak in a very questionable approach in Auckland around immigration and around different groups of people coming to this country who are wanting to make their life here and wanting to invest in this country. The dog whistle is blowing from the other side of the Chamber yet they come here with all the moral sanctimony of the Greens telling us how we should and should not be doing things.Getting back to this question of economic development here we are in an economy that is going well. I was in Taranaki a couple of weeks ago. What a—Hon Maurice Williamson: Paradise.PAUL GOLDSMITH: —paradise. What a great place that is where there are jobs aplenty built upon resources. We always hear from the Opposition good reasons why we should not be advancing or developing those resources any further. It is all going well in Taranaki. But also engineering and supply and expertise have developed there over the years servicing that energy and farming economy and that has been exported all around the world. What a successful region that is.I never cease to be amazed at the enterprise of New Zealanders. They get out and they do things. They employ people they come up with ideas and what they need most of all is for the Government to get off their backs and out of their pockets. What they certainly do not need is for the Government to come along and say to someone who says “I’ve started off with nothing. I’ve built a business from nothing from my own ingenuity out of the back garage. I’ve toiled hard. I’ve mortgaged the house to the hilt. I’ve built a business. We’ve survived all the depredations of the taxman. We’ve dealt with competition from overseas. And 10 years later I’m ready to retire. I’ve built my business.”—“Whammo! Boomfa! You’ve got a capital gains tax to pay for all your hard-earned efforts.” Somehow that is supposed to be encouraging enterprise. What a strange approach that is to me. I have never been able to understand it.Then I suppose their other guru is Geoff Bertram. I think he is the other guru of the left wing. He thinks we should be putting a cap on all salaries. Well I am also a little bit perplexed and I struggle to understand how that is going to encourage enterprise in this country when that is not what we need. What businesses in New Zealand do need is the Business Growth Agenda. That is what this Government has put forward over the years and it is focused on the number of things that we are working on to improve the environment in which entrepreneurs can get out there and do their thing in this country. Those aspects of the Business Growth Agenda are I might just remind the Committee export markets—increasing exports by increasing our access to markets. It is no good having a brilliant idea if you cannot actually sell your products around the world because you are facing high tariff rates. So this Government and particularly Tim Groser has been indefatigable in its efforts to go out there and find new markets and pursue trade negotiations.Then there is the issue of innovation helping businesses access the latest research and development. The Minister in the chair at the moment the Minister for Economic Development has been exceedingly generous indeed very generous in the support that has been given to research and development investing $100 million a year in an internationally focused growth package providing extra research and development assistance to businesses and funding for tourism. All these things are developed around trying to grow businesses in the economy.When we talk about skills those are the other things that businesses need: access to skills and access to affordable employment. The starting out wage is something that was opposed vehemently on the other side of the Chamber and yet what are we seeing from that? The greater employment of young people giving people a chance to get their foot in the door and have a job. When I was a youngster on a lower wage I had the opportunity to go out and work down at the markets at 3 o’clock in the morning. I was not paid as much as the adults and I probably was not worth as much but I got out there delivering the Indian vegetables and the tomatoes and advancing the economy in the little way that I could. Those opportunities have been taken off young people.