Allan KiritapuKIRITAPU ALLAN (Labour): Tēnā koe e Te Māngai. I actually must say I always enjoy the contributions of the honourable member Andrew Bayly. We sit on a number of select committees and I do value his intellectual input. I think that there are a number of issues that the member raised that I think are also of equal consideration for this side of the House when it comes to striking the right balance in getting a scheme that incentivises innovation by industry by our companies. This scheme here is one of I guess probably the most—it's something that private industry all throughout the country has been calling for. Here they were shackled by a red-tape Government organisation—that was well supported by the Opposition oddly—that really constricted the way that R & D tax credits have been able to work.So I want to commend New Zealand First for bringing the R & D tax credit scheme into our coalition agreements and negotiations. I want to absolutely applaud the efforts of the Hon Megan Woods alongside the Hon Stuart Nash because what we've done here—and look you'll know from when the R & D scheme was first introduced that there was a whole range of measures. One was that the threshold was going to be quite high—$100000 that every private enterprise had to spend in order to qualify for the scheme. The other was that it was going to be a 12.5 percent rebate. Well what private industry said and particularly small and medium sized businesses was that that is going to make this scheme too hard to access.Now what we were trying to do is unlock the potential—look New Zealand is and always has been a country that has always been able to get out that number eight wire. We rely on our innovation. We rely on small enterprise to create massive momentum. So what this did in consultation with a whole range of small to medium sized business plus of course our larger industries is worked—and I commend the officials for the work that has gone into getting this scheme. It's a technical scheme but it is a positive one that re-enables our businesses to create our own solutions for some very challenging tasks that we as a nation have ahead of us.I want to draw on the words of the chief executive of Business New Zealand Kirk Hope. He said The Government has listened to small business. They've halved the incentivisation scheme to get in from a $100000 to a $50000 spend and lifted the incentives for smaller companies to access." And for us that's a real achievement.I listened to the honourable Andrew Bayly's consideration and I think one of the things that this Government has been very cautious to do—we are mindful for the need of fiscal pressure and maintaining the integrity of the tax system. We heard from the Opposition that they'll be eagerly looking and focusing on the way in which any abuses of such a scheme can exist and occur—as will we because we've been working alongside our officials and alongside the stakeholders because what we do believe is that taxpayers' dollars must be carefully targeted at the people who are conducting true research and development. So we put a lot of effort into the eligibility scheme and this is something that I am very proud of our side of the House—that we are going to strike the right balance. For instance the bill proposes that claimants must satisfy certain general criteria to be eligible for the R & D credits. The bill contains criteria which will ensure that we're supporting support for R & D that happens in New Zealand rather than offshore although some offshore companies that have a stake in New Zealand will be able to apply for those tax credits. To be eligible for the tax credits claimants have to perform at least one core activity for New Zealand.Like I said this is a long and complicated bill. The Hon Megan Woods when she introduced this bill spoke to the merits and she gave a thorough comprehensive overview of what this bill contains. As it progresses through this House—and I'm glad that the Opposition have decided to support this bill through to the select committee stage. What they will hear is from private industry that have been calling for the R & D tax credits to be made back available. I implore the Opposition to eagerly listen and follow what private business is saying. They've been calling on the previous Government to re-establish the R & D scheme but this Government we're just getting on and doing it. So that said I commend this bill to the House."