Ryall Tony: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Ryall Tony: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:609;Page:6288] 
Hon TONY RYALL (NZ National—Bay of Plenty) 
: The National Party in Opposition has prepared another number of amendments to this part of the bill and we do that for this reason. We think it is a good idea to combine as many as possible of the agencies that provide business support. Over $800 million a year is provided by hard-working ordinary New Zealand taxpayers to support innovation and business development in New Zealand. On this side of the Committee we say that too much is going to the bureaucracy. 
We heard in the previous debate that Industry New Zealand gives out $130 million worth of grants but its administrative overhead is $45 million. That means that for every dollar that hard-working ordinary New Zealand taxpayers entrust to Mr Anderton and the jobs machine" 35c goes to the bureaucrats with the remainder going to business. The National Party says that is inefficient and ineffective and that the money could be better spent elsewhere within that sector or should stay within the pockets of ordinary New Zealanders. 
The problem with Part 2 is that it is overly prescriptive. It gives the Government too much influence in the management of Industry New Zealand. The one thing we have learnt from the international experience of such organisations is that they need firm financial management and good business practices. My colleague Mr John Key who is an experienced director of a multinational corporation with an involvement in investment in Ireland talked about his experience of what is involved there. We oppose parts of this bill because of its overly prescriptive nature. 
The purpose of this bill is to bring together Industry New Zealand and Trade New Zealand but the National Party says what about the 32 other different funding and grant organisations such as Investment New Zealand or Trade New Zealand. What about a number of the Crown research institutes and the funding that they have available for innovation? What about the Venture Investment Fund the Grants for Private Sector Research and Development the Research for Industry Fund Technology New Zealand the New Economy Research Fund the Supporting Promising Individuals fund the Foundation for Research Science and Technology the Science and Innovation Advisory Council the Electronic Commerce Action Team and Network the Developing More Highly Skilled New Zealanders Through Adult Literacy fund the Talented New Zealanders Fund the Celebrating a Culture of Success fund the major events support fund the World Class New Zealanders fund the Industrial Supplies Office the Business Cluster Pilot Programme fund the Regional Partnerships Fund the sector strategies fund the Major Investment Service the Business Growth Service the incubator development unit the investment-ready fund the business enterprise schemes the business schemes and Industry New Zealand itself? 
The list is unbelievably long. It adds up to $800 million. There must be a more efficient and effective way of spending taxpayers’ money on providing delivery of public services in this area. 
 We have moved a number of amendments that are designed to do a couple of things. They are designed first of all to limit and hinder the ability of this minority Labour-Progressive Government to interfere with the distribution of this money. We do not want to see $75000 going to the Warehouse. We do not want to see hundreds of thousands of dollars of ours spent on a project like Sovereign Yachts. We do not want this Government’s fingers anywhere near the pie and we are moving amendments to that end. We are moving amendments to hinder ministerial involvement. We are moving amendments to clarify employment practices within this organisation. We are also moving a number of amendments to unshackle this body from the clutches of this Government. This bill sets out in minute detail the functions and purposes of this new entity in a way that I have never seen before. It is overly prescriptive. 
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