Goldsmith PaulHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (Minister of Science and Innovation): I want to talk about science and science and innovation which is part of the discussion today in particular. I have just come from opening a conference for one of the National Science Challenges Sustainable Seas - Ko ngā moana whakauka. Moana" means oceans and "whakauka" means sustainable or preserving to be long-lasting and one of these National Science Challenges is about mission-led science trying to answer problems that are relevant to us. So that mission is to enhance utilisation of our marine resources within the environmental and biological constraints—a very passionate bunch of scientists sustained by our big investment in science who are passionate people and very keen to better understand the seas and the oceans that sustain us in so many ways but it also combined stakeholders from iwi and the many issue groups that are involved in the broader marine environment. It was a wonderful occasion.I think when we just stand back and ask what we are trying to achieve in Government much of what we are trying to achieve is around raising the living standards of New Zealanders and we can do that by creating a stronger or more resilient economy that creates jobs and opportunities for New Zealanders but we can also do it by delivering better public services for New Zealanders such as in health or in education or in the many sectors that we work on to improve the quality of our lives through better public services. But that is not all of what Government is about. I see that a fundamental role for Government is about preserving and enhancing what is special about New Zealand. We often think of the quality of our physical environment but that also extends to our way of life our social cohesion and our high levels of trust. Thirdly Government is about raising living standards it is about preserving and enhancing what is special about New Zealand and it is also about New Zealand playing its role in the world.When I think of the science investment that we have that can contribute powerfully to each of those areas. World-class science can provide fresh ideas for our companies for our start-ups and for our entrepreneurs to enable them to compete successfully in global markets and deliver higher standards of living for all of us. World-class science can support evidence-based decision-making in our public sector so that we can spend wisely in the education sector and so we can make sensible decisions about regulation affecting our oceans and the many things that we regulate in the broadest sense of the word. Also world-class science can help us preserve our national landscape our water our environment and our oceans fundamentally to help us better understand the world in which we live. Finally New Zealanders are not freeloaders. We do not just expect the rest of the world to do all the science and to just enjoy it. Our world-class science and innovators can help solve global problems and contribute to our global understanding of the human condition and the world in which we live. That is why we do continue to invest $1.3 billion a year in science as we are looking at today as a result of previous Budget decisions and we are on track to increase that to $1.6 billion annually by 2020.We invest it right across the spectrum from fundamental inquirer-led science in the Marsden Fund and the Performance-based Research Fund through to the universities which are powerful contributors to this understanding right through to mission-led science in the National Science Challenges such as the Sustainable Seas challenge but also challenges that are designed to deal with our biosecurity issues and the quality of our soil as well as ageing well and many health issues. Science investment also extends to the capability building in our Crown research institutes so that when the world looks at us and thinks "Well what does New Zealand have to contribute to our global understanding?"—they expect us know a bit about earthquakes and the sorts of things that GNS Science focuses on. They expect us to know about the oceans because we have got the fourth-largest exclusive economic zone in the world and we do have world-class scientists in that area. But also our science investment extends to the encouragement of business R & D through the Callaghan Innovation growth grants. We have seen a very significant—about 27 percent—increase in business investment in R & D science and innovation over the last 2 years as a result of this encouragement. I am very pleased with the progress that we are making from our very substantial investment in science."