McKelvie Ian; Rurawhe AdrianIAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): Thank you Mr Speaker. It's pleasure to take a call on the Venture Capital Fund Bill [Microphone feedback]—whoops funny noise—and I think the last speech was living proof that the longer you go the deeper you dig. I couldn't recognise virtually anything that the last speaker the Hon James Shaw said when I compared it with what the Minister who introduced the bill said earlier in the afternoon. I did listen to David Parker quite closely and I thought a lot of what he said made sense.It's interesting though that we've tried to transform the New Zealand economy for most of my life now and we've never achieved it yet. One of the reasons we don't achieve that is the nature of our economy and our position in the world is very different than anyone else's. So it will be difficult to achieve that transformation. Before I get on to the bill I want to comment on a couple of other things that the last speaker said because he talked about the tax changes that the Government's made and how they're going to introduce capital into this type of investment. They certainly will not because the tax changes that the Government's made to date in respect of ring-fencing and brightline and things like that will make no difference to where people invest their money because those people don't have spare cash to invest. The people they're taxing have got no cash and they will not invest in this type of a fund. So that's a complete nonsense. The next thing he said was that this fund has been put up there as effectively a grant fund not an investment fund. That beggars belief of mine. I don't understand it. That's extraordinary. He then went on to say that We're not going to interfere on where those investments are made but it resembles the Provincial Growth Fund." I then had a vision of Shane Jones going around the country dishing out the superannuation funds cash. I just can't believe what I've heard. None the less this bill for me is or could be a valuable tool in I guess our opportunity in New Zealand to promote some businesses—not businesses so much as initiatives or business ventures—that have for years struggled to get funding in New Zealand. Often the best of them have been picked by overseas investors and taken away from the country. So I do support the reasons for promoting this fund. I do find this House is full of irony and it goes on and on. Today the Prime Minister raised this fund in her answer to question No. 1 as showing us what the Government's achieved in its last two years of operation. Well if this fund is the most important thing the Government's achieved in its last two years of occupying the Treasury benches then they've got some serious challenges. Very shortly after that both the Prime Minister and the finance Minister then talked about no new funds going to the superannuation fund under the National Government and how irresponsible that was. They then tell us "We're going to give it all away in a grant." So not only have they reinstituted contributions to the super fund but they're going to give it away according to James Shaw. So I do find significant irony in the way this thing is being funded. I do think as I said it's a worthwhile venture and I hope it's successful but I do find it ironic that we're actually using funds that effectively were given to the superannuation fund to invest for New Zealand's future. Those taxpayers who are looking forward to a future funded by the superannuation fund I hope they don't miss out because of it.Just one last point I'd like to make is that the superannuation fund might be extraordinarily successful and might have been for the last 15 years but I would invite any of you to have gone back to the 90s—and in fact I experienced this myself—and chaired a superannuation fund and just see how successful those type of investments were in the 90s. They don't always succeed. So we are supporting this bill to the select committee and as I said I do think it's got some merit. Thank you.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): This is a split call. I call Dr Deborah Russell—five minutes."