Hague Kevin: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee 
Hague Kevin: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:1999] 
KEVIN HAGUE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party continues to support the Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill as we did during its first and second readings. It provides a modest level of support for a section of the small and medium business sector with which I have considerable experience. The Government has also made some decisions that will provide support to other parts of the small and medium business sector. I referred in my second reading speech to the national cycleway project which will provide a vital boost to many small and medium businesses in the contracting part of the small and medium business sector particularly in rural and provincial areas for which it is an extremely important development. 
In continuing to support the bill the Green Party wishes to again make the point that we are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the lack of coherence in the Government’s response to the financial crisis we face. Several speakers have already referred to the growing magnitude of the crisis and to the scale of the response against that backdrop. I note along with colleagues from Labour that the Green Party had some amendments that we might have wished to make to this bill but we have chosen not to on this occasion and instead look to opportunities in the future to advance some further ideas. In particular I will refer to a number of areas where the Government could have made a difference and has chosen not to. 
The Government could have retained the research and development tax credit and has chosen not to which is a slap in the face for all of those businesses that had already begun planning on the basis of that credit. Indeed the whole business of investment in innovation is extraordinarily important to the way our country finds its way out of this recession. We have talked about a Green New Deal and the need to address not only the financial crisis but also the crises we face simultaneously in the environment and in energy. To do otherwise is doomed to failure. Indeed that kind of approach requires as much innovation as we can possibly bring to the table. For example Denmark launched its world-leading wind turbine technology on the basis of tax breaks over a 5-year period for innovation in new forms of energy generation. We respectfully suggest to the Government that this is an area it needs to be looking to and we offer our assistance. 
In relation to the 9-day fortnight policy measures again those measures may be of some use to some larger businesses although early indications are that the uptake seems to be at the low end of the scale. Part of the reason for that low uptake may be the relatively unwieldy nature of large businesses. The impact of a job loss on someone who works in a small or medium sized business is no less. The Green Party believes that any relief offered to employees of a large business should also be offered to employees in small and medium sized businesses yet that has not been offered. Where is the Government’s innovation? Where is its measure to support those employees in the small and medium sized businesses that are currently haemorrhaging from the very sector that as Stuart Nash mentioned employs most New Zealanders? 
I referred previously as the Minister of Finance did in earlier debates on the Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill to the advice of the Small Business Advisory Group. Yet again I have to bring to members’ attention the fact that the Government has failed to move to implement the measures proposed by the Small Business Advisory Group. One of the measures that the group most recently brought to the attention of Parliament was its recommendation for advice on improving environmental performance by offering small and medium sized businesses the opportunity to derive business benefits from recognised or certified sustainability of products and services. The Government has completely failed to act on that.