Nash StuartHon STUART NASH (Minister of Revenue): Thank you very much Mr Chair. That was a most interesting speech from the last member the Hon Judith Collins. Certainly as a former Minister of Revenue she made a whole lot of assumptions which then she drew into a whole lot of conclusions which are just simply not true.What we did do is we've set up the Tax Working Group. This was not a tax working group based on Labour Party membership; these were the smartest brains in the country on tax and what we did is we asked them: please have a look at the tax system and see if it meets the test around integrity; see if it meets the test around balance and around fairness. Hopefully revenue-neutral—this is not about raising a whole lot of money; this is not about screwing New Zealanders. In fact it's quite the opposite: this is about seeing if in fact the fairness and the integrity and the balance of the tax system is working in a way it should in the 21st century.Now if Ms Collins knows something that I don't then it would be great to hear it but certainly we haven't had any reports back from the Tax Working Group around what they are thinking. So for a former revenue Minister to hypothecate—well no to hypothesize I should say; talking in tax terms!—on what might come out and therefore what may happen is just simply incorrect.And I would have thought—I would have thought—that that Government would be keen to understand be keen to know that the system is one of integrity is one where it's balanced but most importantly is one that is fair for all New Zealanders. That's what we all want—a tax system that's working for everyone. So we are looking forward—as the Minister of Revenue I am really looking forward to seeing what the Tax Working Group comes up with.In terms of revenue there has been a lot of work going on. We've passed the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) bill. This is one—again when I talk about fairness—that ensures that multinationals are paying their fair share of tax. There is no one who will disagree with that. We all believe that multinationals should pay their fair share of tax; the BEPS bill has been passed.We're talking about R & D tax credits. Budget 2018 sought about a billion dollars to ensure that productivity in this country increases and how do we do this? By giving those who have the ability to really drive productivity—the small to medium enterprises that the last member was running down. We believe that if you enable and empower the small to medium businesses to invest in R & D then you will grow productivity in this country enormously. We're not about picking winners; we're saying to companies that if they want to engage in research and development if they really want to take charge and drive research and development in a way that's going to lift productivity then we're going to back you. We're right behind you. A billion dollars we're putting into this and the Liam Dann article in the press over the weekend actually said something needs to be done because what the last Government did in the last nine years certainly didn't work.What we've also done is we've said we want everyone to pay their fair share not just multinationals so we've allocated another $31.3 million to the IRD so they can go after people who aren't paying their tax. And an interesting stat: there are about 100000 overdue business tax returns. Everyone should be paying their fair share. We don't think anyone should be paying more than they should or less just your fair share so we've given the IRD money to go after those who actually aren't complying—most important.I suppose one of the most important things that's happening in Inland Revenue at the moment is Business Transformation. This is the largest State sector project on the go at the moment at about $1.8 billion and it's brilliant. It is changing the way that New Zealanders will interact with Inland Revenue. And you know it is not without risks—at the moment they are running two systems in parallel—but what it will do and what it is doing is making it easier for New Zealanders to comply with their tax obligations; making it easier for New Zealanders to actually interact with Inland Revenue.Stage 2 is being rolled out. Stage 3 is in planning. Stage 3 will actually ensure that New Zealanders do not have to pay secondary tax. Stage 3 will ensure that in fact refunds will be delivered in a timely manner so New Zealanders don't have to always go to IRD or be proactive. Inland Revenue is going to be proactive around the way that they deal with New Zealanders. It is transformational. Thank you very much.