Hughes Gareth: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee[Sitting date: 17 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18552. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green):Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. I rise to take a call in the Crown entities debate to talk about Callaghan Innovation. How we build a smart innovative economy should be one of the key issues we are all talking about in the coming months. At the moment there are some great pockets of excellence happening across Aotearoa. There is some amazing stuff happening by Kiwi firms and I will take my hat off to the Government because there are a few projects that are deserving of public support. But what we see is that despite the pockets of excellence and despite the amazing smart green innovative thinking that is occurring it is happening in a vacuum of Government leadership.We see a Government that is focused on raw logs more oil and fracking and more milk powder exports overseas. We are on a hiding to nothing as a nation economically if we continue to simplify our economy and become more dependent on commodity markets where the buyers are setting the price not us in New Zealand. We risk being stuck at the bottom of the OECD rankings where we have declined year after year over the last three decades if we stay just on raw logs milk powder and oil and this is where the Government is literally throwing tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies. So although I celebrate and take my hat off to the pockets of excellence and the Government support that is occurring it is tiny compared with the subsidies we see to the fossil fuel industry and to the agricultural sector which is just intensification and raw commodities.If we want to build a richer New Zealand with more Kiwis in employment and more profits staying in New Zealand we need to keep up the focus on a smart green innovative economy. This is where the future is. This is where we can build a richer New Zealand. So although we did not support the initial legislation establishing Callaghan Innovation some of the research has been widely supported. Obviously we did not support it because of the direct ministerial oversight of the Minister sitting in the chair the Minister of Science and Innovation because there is too much control for one person picking winners. What we want to see is a true competitive process where good ideas can flow through not just on the whims of the Minister.We know we have a national problem when it comes to research and development. We spend less than half of the OECD average both at the national and commercial levels. We need to do more. If we look at other nations like Israel and the amount it is investing in research and development we see what we should be striving for that because we can build more jobs—more well-paid jobs—when we focus on innovation.One little policy area in this smart green innovation space that the Green Party will be championing this election is around digital manufacturing additive manufacturing and 3-D printing. This is something that is when you hear from the Government benches more of a border security threat because that is where the officials’ primary focus is going through the Customs Service. What we want to see is a focus on the economic potential. I welcome that Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has finally supported groups like the Titanium Industry Development Association with some assistance to get a 3-D printer. There is a lot more we can do with the advanced digital manufacturing sector to grow jobs. It is 16 percent of global GDP—an $11 trillion sector—and it will be taking a bigger slice. With other Governments offering substantial support and substantial leadership we cannot miss out. We need more leadership here. We need to set those research and development investment targets much much higher.We need to support those successful Kiwi companies particularly in the green energy space which the Pure Advantage group of successful Kiwi businesspeople says is a $6 trillion opportunity for New Zealand to get a slice of. It is a $6 trillion global market. So a green investment bank would be a great solution in the next term of Government and a good green Government will focus on smart green innovation. We need to not just keep Callaghan Innovation but see a green investment bank established.We need to support our capital markets with things like a capital gains tax because it will focus investment away from the housing speculation market towards the productive economy. What I want to see is Kiwi families and Kiwi investors investing in Kiwi businesses. At the moment under the market we are seeing a signal flowing through to focus on speculation. [Interruption] I am sure that Jami-Lee Ross does not want to see more speculation in the Auckland housing market which is going up and up and up driving the interest rate rises that we see under the Key Government. There are more interest rate rises under the Key Government.What we need to do is see those proper economic signals to invest in productive businesses invest in employing Kiwis and invest in innovation. Ultimately this is where Callaghan Innovation is doing some good things. Where is it failing? It is the Minister in the chair. It is the lack of leadership and the lack of focus on a smart green economy. So this election will be a good opportunity for Kiwis to debate the issues—smart green innovation or more logs and oil.