Bishop Chris: Taxation (Annual Rates for 2015-16 Research and Development and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBishop Chris: Taxation (Annual Rates for 2015-16 Research and Development and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9038. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CHRIS BISHOP (National): I am almost—Grant Robertson: Deputy chair’s up the chair’s just arrived—it’s a shambles!CHRIS BISHOP: —reluctant to stand up because as Mr Robertson is pointing out my learned superior David Bennett the chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee has entered the House but I am going to take a call first. Last time I stood up I managed to spill water all over the Hon Nathan Guy so sorry about that Minister—not a particularly auspicious start for me in the House tonight.We have just heard some words from Labour MPs that I think it is fair to say you do not hear very often. Stuart Nash said to the House: “I would love to lower taxes.” It is quite extraordinary. In the short time I have been in this Parliament—and I am pretty sure I am safe in saying that in the 7 years the National Government has been in charge—I think it would be highly unlikely that you would have had a Labour MP say that he would like to lower taxes. Well what I would say to that is: good luck because the Labour Party’s spending promises at the last election and they are continuing to increase by the day—just 2 weeks ago $1.2 billion extra spent per year on its much vaunted but actually sadly inequitable and regressive tertiary policy—well good luck.This is a reasonably dry but very important bill and you would be forgiven for not knowing that from Mr Nash’s speech because Stuart used it as an opportunity to bewail the Government’s tinkering and how we are not focusing on equity and how we had a missed opportunity to redesign the tax system. Well how would the Labour Party redesign the tax system? Will it introduce a capital gains tax? No because that is not Labour Party policy. Will it introduce a land tax which I know Mr Nash has blogged about in a favourable way? No that is not Labour Party policy either. In fact the only thing the Labour Party can focus on is the answer to all of New Zealand’s economic problems—research and development tax credits. And it is that point I want to focus on because you will not find a bigger proponent of growing high-tech firms in our economy of innovation being at the forefront of the new economy in the 21st century than me.This bill does a couple of very useful things to grow research and development in the New Zealand economy and to grow them in “Technology Valley” which is what I call the Hutt Valley where we have a real opportunity to grow high-tech jobs. Very few people would know that hundreds of millions of dollars of gross domestic product out in “Technology Valley” is based upon maths and science and engineering and technology—great firms out in the Hutt like Pertronic like Tekron International and like Fraser Engineering which makes high-tech fire trucks for almost every state in Australia. So we have got a great opportunity there and that is why this bill is going to be important.So it does a couple of things. Firstly it allows companies to cash out their tax losses within specified limits; and then secondly we have the relief for what is called in the tax trade black hole expenditure. So it allows expenditure to be either deducted over time or taken as a one-off tax deduction upon the write-off for tax accounting purposes. Is this a wholesale massive research and development tax credit like the Labour Party would like? No it is not. Are these useful measures that will help create a pipeline of jobs and growth in our economy through innovation? Yes they are and they come as part of a suite of measures that this Government has implemented in order to grow the innovative and productive capacity of this economy. I could talk at length about the numerous things that we are doing in this regard to grow jobs and grow the high-tech jobs. I could talk at length about the technology—the amazing technology—going on out in “Technology Valley” but I think it is time for me to cede the floor to Grant Robertson. With that I commend this important bill to the House.