Genter Julie Anne: Taxation (Annual Rates for 2015-16 Research and Development and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGenter Julie Anne: Taxation (Annual Rates for 2015-16 Research and Development and Remedial Matters) Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:9042. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green): The Green Party will be supporting this bill because there is actually quite a small but important win for the Green Party and the Labour Party in this in that National has finally realised after 8 years in Government that it was wrong to cancel the research and development tax credits. So it has started to bring them back a little bit in this bill and we can support the bill for that reason.It is a large and wide-ranging bill. We do not agree with everything in it. But before I get to the substance of this bill I need to clarify and correct some of the statements made by previous speakers from the National Party. We hear from the National Party all the time a number of misleading comments about Green Party policy and about Labour Party policy.I hear over and over again from David Bennett and I think Chris Bishop said this as well that the Opposition is going to raise taxes. I think it is really important to point out that every time National says that the Green Party and probably the Labour Party as well is going to increase spending and increase taxes it is actually making that up. Any of you who are watching this at home can go and look at the Green Party website and see our fully costed programme. Before the last election we showed how we were going to pay for every policy we proposed. We also showed how we were going to give a tax cut to 97 percent of income earners.The reality is that National members find it easier to go around being misleading about Opposition party policies than debating the actual merits and issues. The reality is their party is not delivering the results for New Zealand that they claim it is. I also heard in speeches tonight that National is very serious about innovation and a high-tech economy. If that is the case and if it is implementing policy that is going to deliver that high-tech innovation-based economy why is it that our exports have declined as a percentage of GDP since National has come to power? They have actually declined. National set a target of increasing them and they have declined—right back down to 28 percent of GDP.If it is the case that National is serious about innovation why is it that our exports have become even more focused on simple commodities unrefined commodities like milk powder and raw logs? That is the reality. If you go and look at Statistics New Zealand our imports have been increasing our exports have not been diversifying at all and the proportion of research and development spending—the proportion of the economy that has been put into research and development—has started to decline as a proportion of the overall economy.Everything that we need to do to create a competitive sustainable economy that is going to thrive in the 21st century is not currently happening. The National Party is so blinded by ideology and a focus on delivering for a few big vested interests and protecting the status quo that it cannot see that its policy is not working. It is unwilling to look at the evidence and actually deliver policy that would be better for all New Zealanders.There was recently an IMF country report—very very recently the International Monetary Fund or the IMF did a country report on New Zealand. It made a number of recommendations. It said that we need to address our low savings rate by increasing incentives for KiwiSaver. What has the National Government done? It has actually been decreasing the incentive for KiwiSaver. The report said that we need to reform the current tax incentives around housing and property.Credit where it is due despite David Bennett’s previous scaremongering about a capital gains tax the National Government has implemented a very baby version of a capital gains tax with the brightline test. The sad thing about it is that it is so full of loopholes that it will not actually be effective. It applies only to residential land—god knows how we are going to define that because any land in New Zealand can be used for residential property—and it only counts for 2 years so it is not going to disincentivise property speculation in the Auckland housing market which is already rampant. The IMF country report actually does recommend extending the brightline test to at least 5 years which is something the Green Party proposed when we put forward an amendment to that effect.Also in the IMF country report recommendations was a boost in the research and development spend. So it is great that this bill finally finally brings back some tax breaks for research and development because that is the most efficient way to incentivise research and development. But we need to do more than that. We actually need public investment in research and development if we want to be as competitive as other small countries like Denmark Finland Israel and Singapore. They are all countries that are similar in size to us but they are doing much better—they are much richer. Part of the reason is they have much more diversified economies. That is because of Government policy that is actually evidence-based and effective and all of them are investing three to four times more in innovation.Before the last election the Green Party proposed a big public investment in research and development in addition to bringing research and development tax cuts because that is the best way to get the private sector to step up and invest in innovation. We know this from research. You can look at the book Get Off the Grass by Shaun Hendy and Sir Paul Callaghan which recommends a whole range of policies that demonstrate that what New Zealand needs to become more successful in the world is not to cut taxes; it is not to liberalise regulations to make it easier to do business—we are already one of the easiest places in the world to do business. What we actually need is more public investment in our people and better protection of our competitive advantage which is our pristine natural environment.That is why the Green Party actually has the most realistic sensible economic policy of just about any party in this Parliament. I will say that we hear a lot of sensible policy coming from the other parties on this side of the House but not so much from the party that is in Government. What is really really important to us in the Green Party is that we protect our natural heritage not only because it is going to be good for the economy which it will be but because we love it and we know that New Zealanders love it. We cannot get richer by selling off our land or our seas to overseas mining companies and allowing them to potentially spoil our pristine natural environment.Hon Simon Bridges: If only I could!JULIE ANNE GENTER: It would not make much money anyway Mr Bridges so you do not need to worry.The way to be successful in the 21st century is to address the challenges that are facing New Zealand and the world and we know how to do that. We have the evidence for how we are going to do that. The two biggest challenges facing New Zealand and the world are inequality and climate change. Those two challenges are actually interconnected and we could address both of those through our tax system by developing a high-value clean green economy that works for everyone in New Zealand not just for those at the top.We do not need to increase taxes for 97 percent of New Zealanders but yes those who are on the highest incomes—over $140000—can afford to give a little bit more back. It does make sense to tax income from property the same as income from work is taxed. Any economist in the world will tell you that.In fact I was at a meeting at the OECD in Paris where they were pretty shocked that New Zealand was not doing that. I think that this particular bill although it is a tiny tiny step in the right direction demonstrates the limit of the vision of this National Government. It is ultimately here to govern for those who already have the most to protect the status quo and to avoid dealing with the great challenges that we are facing. We on this side of the House have practical costed policies that will address the real issues facing New Zealanders and ensure that our children have every opportunity to grow up in warm safe healthy homes; to go to school where they can learn because they have access to healthy food; and to grow up and have an opportunity to find meaningful work that pays them a living wage that does not rely on destroying our pristine natural environment but actually makes the world a better place. That is the New Zealand we stand for.