Ardern Jacinda: New Zealand Business Number Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeArdern Jacinda: New Zealand Business Number Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 05 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3203. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JACINDA ARDERN (Labour): I am sorry to disappoint the member Brett Hudson; I will be taking a call on this bill on the New Zealand Business Number Bill.I think it is important when discussing a bill like this that we keep at the top of our minds the context in which business is operating. It is with some I guess irony that we are debating this bill which is meant to be about improving the ease of doing business and improving outcomes for business when we are so close to a Budget that was trumpeted by the Government as the Budget that would return us to surplus. That therefore would demonstrate to the nation that the economy is in good heart that the books have been balanced and that all is well in never-never land. That is not going to be what this Budget delivers.We are now hearing from a Minister of Finance the one in whom the businesses are meant to hold great faith who is the same Minister who stood up in this House today and likened balancing a Budget to weight loss which I found extraordinary. So apparently if you set a goal of losing 10 kilograms but you reach only 9 kilograms that is the same as a Budget surplus not being reached. Well you cannot be a little bit pregnant and the difference for business is that if a business is not able to balance its books then it is not just good enough that it had a go at it.Melissa Lee: Business numbers. It’s an identifier.JACINDA ARDERN: So I do think it is important that the context be considered because in the Cabinet paper small businesses Melissa Lee that were asked about what they thought about the business number legislation which the Government is now passing in this debate said actually—and this is relevant—that it was not the biggest issue for them. So that is absolutely relevant. What is relevant to them is whether or not we do have a well-performing economy that means that their business is doing well within that context. That is what they want their Government to focus on. That is an important measure; it absolutely is. Minister Foss knows because his officials were the ones who prepared that document and said: “Well when we consulted with small business they weren’t convinced”—they were not convinced—“of the benefits it would bring for them.”I can see why they would say that because when you come to Part 1 of the New Zealand Business Number Bill it sets out in its preliminary provisions the main purposes of the bill which include to “ … enable businesses in New Zealand to interact more easily with government; and (b) reduce the costs of business transactions in New Zealand; and (c) establish and maintain a New Zealand business number register … ”. There is very little detail on how that will explicitly deliver some of the cost savings that the Government has been trumpeting since year dot—very little detail on that whatsoever. Yet if you directly compare that with some of the really tangible things that have been put forward by members of the business community or the Institute of Chartered Accountants they have said: “Look if you want to look for things that will enable business to interact more easily with the Government that will save them time that will save them money adopt some of the proposal that the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants put up before the election.” They included things like no more than 1 hour no more than one form making it really simple to file for the tax purposes of the Government. They have set out some of those ideas in a really simple way for the Government. That has not been picked up.So if there are things that the New Zealand Business Number is going to deliver which we can tangibly say will deliver X amount of time savings I am pretty sure small business would like to hear about that but that is not explicitly contained in this bill. There are probably already areas where we could be sharing information without having just that one number. I know Xero for instance has been putting a case to the Government over things like allowing Xero to be used as a way of channelling all the information that Statistics New Zealand wants directly from Xero—a platform that so many small businesses are using—to the Government. That would be a massive time saving. Allowing Xero and things like Mind Your Own Business for instance to speak directly to the Inland Revenue Department would make a massive difference to those small businesses.So yes we are willing to explore this. We are willing to send the bill to the select committee. You are trumpeting a big game here. Let us see what the bill is going to deliver but do not do it at the expense of some really practical ideas that the Government could be delivering on now or at the expense of the bigger picture which ultimately is an economy that is delivering for our businesses.