Parmar ParmjeetDr PARMJEET PARMAR (National): Thank you Mr Chair. Now moving on to another point that I want to raise—it's about having certified people that can approve a research and development tax credit. So here—the certificates for research and development coming through certified people—it looks like the Government is creating another layer of people that businesses should be accessing to access research and development tax credits. So businesses already have other expenditures: they have accountants; they have lawyers. So now they will have to go through these certified people—I mean this will be an option—to apply for their R & D tax credit. Here I believe this is a job that the Government should be doing—the various people through Callaghan Innovation should be looking into it—rather than creating another layer another expense for businesses to access certified people that can approve their research and development expense claim.So here what is happening is we are creating more cost on business. The first point which I raised in my previous contribution was that yes they will have to provide information in some kind of format. It might be different from what is there currently for growth grants but there has to be some kind of format otherwise the commissioner will know what the commission is going to preapprove. Then this point is about creating another layer where businesses will have to access a tax credit as an option through a certified person that is approved. On the other hand these people are not going to be part of any appropriate professional body which was raised during the select committee process as well because the point was that we want to make sure that these people are bound by professional ethics so that these people are bound by professional ethics and that they should be part of a professional body. This was actually rejected during the select committee process. It will be good to understand from the Minister that it is expected that most R & D certifiers will be members of an appropriate professional body—what does this mean? It is expected."—that is the response we got. So expectation doesn't mean they are necessarily going to be a member of a professional body. So that means the Government is leaving it to them to choose whether they want to be a member of an appropriate professional body.So the second point that comes is about the penalty regime. Yep there is a penalty. So the argument we heard was that this is going to be sufficient to ensure R & D certifiers will be acting in a professional ethical manner. This is only if they are caught—only if they are caught—but if there is another layer created by this Government for businesses that is going to cost them then why not make it more effective more assuring? Here it doesn't give us any assurance that people that will be acting as R & D certifiers because it is their choice to be part of a professional body or not to be part of a professional body and the second thing is the penalty regime which comes in only if they are caught. So the businesses will have to rely on these people—this other layer which this Government is creating which in my view is totally unnecessary. Actually it should be the Government's job to ensure that people's needs—businesses' needs—for their R & D tax credit claim or refundability are met.The second point—we have heard a lot from the Minister about growth grants. Growth grants provide money at the start and that is what start-up companies need—not money at the end. So big companies yes they have money they have resources they can spend in the start and then claim R & D tax credits at the end of the year but that policy was focused on providing help at that point when they really need that financial help.Now this policy that was put in place by the previous National Government—growth grant scheme which has proven to be very successful—is going to be phased out in section LZ 13 where it talks about part-year override of section LY 3(2)(b). There it just talks about part-year but it doesn't talk anywhere about part-project. When a project is put forward it's not always about the time line; it's also about the progress of the project and there could be some simultaneously on-going projects. So it will be good to hear from the Minister on this issue as well."