Street Maryan: Advanced Technology Institute Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Street Maryan: Advanced Technology Institute Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 28 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6893. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 I rise to speak on these two initial clauses in this legislation. One we have just amended with the approval of the Minister of Science and Innovation’s amendments so that the “Advanced Technology Institute Act 2012” will now be called the Callaghan Innovation Act 2012. I just want to reflect on that for a moment because the late Sir Paul Callaghan was a man who was an extraordinary contributor to New Zealand. I remember listening to him at a Labour Party conference when he came and addressed us a year or two ago and he was truly one of those very few people in the world who is charismatic. “Charismatic” is not a word that I apply to many people at all. It is rather overused these days because there are very few people in the world who can hold one’s attention the way Sir Paul did and talk in terms that made him a superlative communicator of complex and inspiring facts and ideas about how human beings relate to science and how science relates to the development of human beings. So it is entirely appropriate that this advanced technology institute be called Callaghan Innovation. I have no problem with that at all. It is a fitting tribute to the man and his legacy. 
But I do have a bit of a problem with the fact that this institute which has a lot of promise has been bedevilled at the outset by a shambolic process. It is my fervent hope and it is why the Labour Party is supporting this legislation that Callaghan Innovation can actually realise some of the dreams that have been expressed in a few of the speeches on this establishing legislation. In other words this idea—originally the Advanced Technology Institute; now Callaghan Innovation—was announced as I understand it if I remember correctly in the Budget. In fact it was meant to have been in place by 1 November this year if I remember correctly. But what we have is a bill that was referred to the Education and Science Committee on 13 September with submissions closing on 1 October. If there was ever going to be a visionary plan about the development of New Zealand and the application of science to those wonderful primary production industries as well as our secondary manufacturing industries that could set our economy alight this was going to be a significant part of it. But it seems to me that we have had nothing like a plan. 
In fact the kinds of amendments that my colleague Dr Megan Woods put forward would have improved the function and purpose of Callaghan Innovation had the Government been prepared to seek a little improvement and a bit of logic and had a bit of coordination been applied to the sector through this bill. So I am disappointed that this bill has gone through a shambolic process with 2 weeks for submissions to be presented. Of course that gave rise to minimal submissions and to submissions that were rushed and did not reflect—as I understand from my colleagues because I do not sit on this committee—the full complexity and the vision and the potential of the science and innovation sector. There are issues around Callaghan Innovation and the bill that we are about to pass and its ability to realise the potential for the improvement of the New Zealand economy and in fact some substantial futureproofing of the New Zealand economy. 
So the commencement date is now 1 February 2013. It should have been 1 November. There should have been some months for this process to be undertaken with due respect and some seriousness around the purpose and the structure and more important the relationships between Callaghan Innovation the education sector various aspects of industry and the workforce that is going to be required to implement some of the ideals of Callaghan Innovation. But what we have is a bill that is rushed that is inadequate and that could have been improved with the amendments from other members of Parliament in this Committee—most particularly Dr Megan Woods but certainly David Clendon and Tracey Martin as well. But we have now what we have because we have just voted down any other amendments apart from the Minister’s. This bill comes into force on 1 February 2013 instead of 1 November 2012. That is as it is. 
It is my very clear hope that Callaghan Innovation can rise above the shambolic and undirected process that has surrounded this bill and can in fact do what it is meant to do in relation to other agencies we have—and those relationships will have to be tested and hammered out a wee bit because of the lack of thought and time that has gone into this bill—and that it is able to work cooperatively with Crown research institutes and other existing scientific and innovation organisations to provide some kind of knitted together some kind of directed and some kind of purposeful future for science and development in New Zealand. We have clever scientists in this country we have clever industrialists we have clever workers and it is only going to be by the combination of all of those three that we are ever going to get the sort of lift in our economy that everybody in this House aspires to. A little bit more thought a little bit more time a bit more vision that was more detailed in its application would have assisted here. However I wish Callaghan Innovation under this bill which comes into effect on 1 February 2013 every success for the benefit of New Zealand. Thank you.