Dalziel Lianne: Budget Debate 
Dalziel Lianne: Budget Debate 
[Volume:631;Page:3279] 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL (Minister of Commerce) 
: 
 The Prime Minister in her statement to Parliament at the beginning of this year said that as part of the economic transformation agenda we would also be taking a fresh look at regulatory frameworks. Feedback from business suggests that higher-quality regulation will lead to more growth in investment and we want to engage with business on how to achieve that. 
I was very pleased to announce last night the detail of the Quality Regulation Review which as Michael Cullen said in the Budget speech last week confirms our commitment to a regulatory environment that promotes economic growth business confidence globally competitive companies and social well-being. The Quality Regulation Taskforce will be led by Peter Mumford from the Ministry of Economic Development and its first meeting is scheduled for next week. Its focus is practical and its aim is on achieving results. The task force has been given comprehensive terms of reference in order to drive an ambitious and in-depth programme of action across Government in partnership with business. That means involving business owners and representatives of the workforce as well and it means including community leaders and local government representatives too. I will get a weekly report on progress from the task force and it will report to the high-level ministerial group I chair on a 6-weekly basis. We have established strict time lines for reporting to Cabinet—namely at the end of October and at the end of March and the end of July next year. The task force will focus on regulatory frameworks that overlap each other at the level of the firm. We have invited sectors to bring their issues to the table and we are promising a fast-track option to allow practical solutions to be implemented quickly. 
The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Peter Townsend from Christchurch the home of the champion Crusaders was asked on the radio last night about “… lots of promises but still some pretty horrible language around this—an inter-departmental Quality Regulation Taskforce is being set up for the part of the whole-of-Government look at this do you understand?”. Peter Townsend replied: “Well we’ve got multilayered regulations and we’re going to have a multilayered review. So long as we get the right outcome and as long as it’s action-orientated and efficient then I’ve got no objection to it. In fact I strongly support the Minister in her quest to reduce regulatory difficulties for business.” Business wants to get on with business and they want to do it in partnership with the Government. 
I want to respond to the concerns of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions that this review risks diversion from the real challenge. The real challenge is for businesses to invest in research and development new technology advanced technical processes modernised plants and equipment and innovation-related training for their staff. Let me say that we will not be diverted from the real issues and I look forward to the business tax consultation document that is coming from Peter Dunne and Michael Cullen so that we can talk about the investment in business we need in order to grow. 
We cannot be diverted from the real issues either because the Council of Trade Unions will be in the room. It is important to have the right people in the room when these issues are discussed. It is vital that the representative voice of the workforce is heard in the debate about regulatory frameworks because some frameworks are designed specifically to protect workforce interests. Health and safety in employment is a classic example. Some regulatory frameworks are specifically designed to protect consumer interests and some are designed to protect economic social or environmental interests but other regulatory frameworks are out of date. Some of the information gathering done by different departments that do not talk to each other is a problem for business. We want to hear what business is saying so that we can address those issues. 
The National Party’s response to this review was to say that the “collective groan from business was audible”. The only groan I heard was from the Opposition. That is because Opposition members have no idea what business thinks because they have stopped listening to business and business has stopped listening to them. The Opposition cannot stand that business has switched off from National—and I can tell National why. The reason that business people are sick of the National Party and its members is that they are negative their behaviour is appalling they make personal attacks on people and they have that nasty anti - New Zealand sentiment that wishes people would go overseas and live in Australia. They are more proud of Australia. In fact some Australians in a meeting I was at the other night said they had listened to the National members’ speeches and thought they were listening to speeches on the Australian Budget because they had not heard so much good stuff being said about Australia. 
National was a once-proud party that used to stand for business; now it stands for the Exclusive Brethren. I have business leaders telling me they are embarrassed to admit they voted National because they have had a much more positive response from a Labour-led Government and a Prime Minister who is committed to economic transformation and to families young and old as well as to our national identity not that of another country. Why is Don Brash telling people that it is better over the other side of the ditch? 
Let us look at the World Bank Doing Business database which provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 155 economies. Where is New Zealand on that list? There are 155 economies. Is it near the bottom? Is it in the middle? Is it near the top? Or is it none of the above? It is none of the above because New Zealand is No. 1. New Zealand is ranked by the World Bank as No. 1 for ease of doing business. 
 So why are National members telling people to go to Australia? The Australians have now reacted to what National members said was the Budget they would have delivered if National had won the last election. Cuts would have been the order of the day and we know that would have meant $11 billion of cuts to health housing and education—the list goes on. The Labour-led Government has chosen investment over cuts—investment in roads health and education—and delivery on the commitments it made during the election campaign. 
The Quality Regulation Taskforce is another investment in business growth by this Labour-led Government. Labour already has a Minister for Small Business. Was there a Minister for Small Business under National? There was not. Labour introduced the Small Business Advisory Group. National did not take any notice of what small businesses were saying yet those businesses make up 96 percent of businesses in New Zealand. Labour has begun the task of implementing the recommendations it has agreed to. We have delivered on significant reductions to compliance requirements through the Ministerial Panel on Business Compliance Costs. Our members are those who are inviting business to be part of any consultations the Government engages in with a website that is now able to be used for the Quality Regulation Taskforce as well. 
Darren Hughes 
: What’s the address? 
Hon LIANNE DALZIEL 
: For anyone who is listening it is businessconsultation.govt.nz. We welcome people wanting to be part of our going forward together. Labour has said that it will lift the quality of its game going forward—with a regulatory impact analysis that is real with serious cost benefit with all the options on the table and with real consultation with stakeholders. National members have not come up with one fresh idea about what they would do except to take even more rights off workers than they stripped away with the Employment Contracts Act. 
This review has come from the business community itself. Significantly there has been a lot of noise from the small end of town because that is where the weight of compliance is felt. I say “weight” rather than “burden” because it is often the cumulative effect of rules that makes a difference and we know that if we get rid of the little things that make a difference then we really will make a big difference. One of the things I have discovered in talking to businesses is that some people do not know that the rules have changed or are going to change but we can communicate better to businesses about how things are improving all the time. 
This Government is business-friendly. The Opposition used to be business-friendly but it has lost its way. The Opposition spokeswoman on economic development Katherine Rich is completely invisible. She is never to be seen anywhere and has given hardly any speeches since she has had the role. I do not understand why National has given up its traditional support. 
Helen Clark is universally admired by business leaders because she believes in New Zealand. She wants us to lift our game because she wants New Zealand to do well. I am glad we have a Labour-led Government a Labour Prime Minister and a Budget from a Labour Minister of Finance. It would have been appalling if it had been any other way. We have a great future in this country and I am glad we have a great Budget to debate in this House today.