The Royal Society’s report has reinforced that the Government can’t continue to ignore biotechnology, National’s spokesperson for Research, Science and Innovation Dr Parmjeet Parmar says.

“The report shows that that legislation needs to be updated as the restrictions it imposes are disproportionate to the risks given the latest advancements in the field of gene-editing.

“The report looked at the benefits that biotechnology could have in the fields of pest control, health and the primary sector. It shows that we need to have a public debate to update the legislation so that the benefits can be explored.

“The Government has ignored official advice that New Zealand is falling behind the rest of the world. The Government needs to stop letting its ideology get in the way and let the science speak for itself.

“The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act was drafted when the current advancements couldn’t have even been imagined. It’s now time for the law to catch up with reality. 

“National has committed to modernising the rules around biotechnology in both our environment and primary industries discussion documents. 

“I am calling on the Government to act urgently to respond to the need to bring the legislation governing biotechnology in New Zealand in line with the latest advancements in this field.”

It’s disappointing to see an opportunity to grow our scientific community lost due to the Government’s decision to not commit to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope, National’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“The Minister is concerned that New Zealand doesn’t have a sufficiently large pool of world-class experts doing the type of work that would be advanced by using the SKA, but this merely emphasises the need for New Zealand to invest in and grow our scientific expertise.

“Innovation and technological development is central in supporting economic growth, but if we fail to attract and maintain experts we won’t be able to see the full economic value.

“The Government needs to be supporting our scientific community and helping them grow, currently there is no evidence of a plan to do this.

“National believes in supporting New Zealand’s wider scientific sector to develop more scientific and technological skills, which will allow us to keep up with international advances and provide opportunities to connect with the international scientific community.” 

The National Party is calling on the Government to fund potentially lifesaving research into preventing rural fires, National’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“Crown Research Institute Scion, which specialises in forestry science, is involved in creating a new fire spread model and investigating new extreme fire prevention methods.

This includes developing new response technologies to prevent and suppress extreme fires,” Dr Parmar says.

“I’m calling on the Government to give Scion the security it needs of $3 million a year so it can continue research and come up with new models to suppress wildfires. This research has previously come from contestable funds but there is no security with that funding.

“If Scion’s new fire-spread theory holds true, it will replace an 80-year old fire-spread theory and will transform the way firefighters fight wildfires, the likes of those seen in Nelson and the Port Hills. The frequency and pattern of fires is changing, so this research is more important than ever.

“The annual average direct impact of rural fire on New Zealand’s economy is estimated at $67 million a year, with indirect costs estimated to be at least two to three times this.

“Today is International Firefighters Day, so it’s reasonable that the Government takes today to think about this serious issue which could ultimately save money, and lives.”

New figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show strong progress in Research and Development (R&D) spending under the National-led Government’s R&D framework, while also showing what a Capital Gains Tax will put at risk, National’s Research, Science and Innovation Spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“Between 2008 and 2018, R&D spending in New Zealand rose from $2.2 billion to $3.9 billion. These results are a reflection of the effective policies implemented by the previous National Government and pre-date any changes by the current Government such as the R&D tax credit,” Dr Parmar says.

“However, the Government puts all that progress at risk with the proposed Capital Gains Tax.

“A Capital Gains Tax would punish start-ups, innovators and small business owners who are willing to take risks and turn their ideas into a commercial business venture.

“It will mean that when a Kiwi start-up, the next Xero or TradeMe, decides to sell their idea or product to the world, the Government would help themselves to a third of the return

“That is not fair.

“It is the entrepreneur and innovator who takes the risk, invests their own money and time and puts in the hard work to turn their idea into a success, not the Government.

“National believes we need to reward hard work, incentivise risk-taking and encourage New Zealanders to invest in new products and new ideas. A Capital Gains Tax would do the opposite.”

The Government claims to be committed to building a more innovative economy, so it should explain why New Zealand’s innovation ranking is sliding, National’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“New Zealand was ranked 28th on the Bloomberg Innovation Index in 2013, when the former National Government created Callaghan Innovation to help lift our performance. It did, and New Zealand’s ranking improved to 18th within two years.

“Now the tide’s going out again. New Zealand’s innovation ranking has fallen two years in a row. The same trend may be emerging in the Global Innovation Index.

“One of the most consistent themes I hear from New Zealanders about what our economy needs is that we need to move up the value chain by supporting more innovation.

“New Zealand has had some great innovators and we need more of them to add value to our exports of goods and services and to improve our standard of living.

“This Government may be struggling to make progress because of the divergent views within the coalition but that’s no excuse for inertia.

“As a country, New Zealand should back itself in its ability to add more capacity to innovate and add value to what we’re good at and to find new things to be good at. But the performance of the Research, Science and Innovation Minister leaves me concerned as Government policy in this area is somewhat woolly.

“Across Minister Woods’ portfolios, there has been a discernible lack of depth in her knowledge of the scientific principles that should guide policy decisions.

“These global indexes may be pointing to a slowdown in New Zealand’s innovation value chain and shouldn’t be shrugged off. It could make it harder for innovative businesses to attract investment and risk the loss of innovative work in New Zealand.”

The Government’s R&D Tax Incentive policy shows it has taken on board some of the concerns raised by submitters but today’s release leaves too many unanswered questions, National’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar says.

“The policy is short on details of compliance requirements and how Inland Revenue proposes to police the scheme. Without that information, businesses can only hope they comply and are keeping the right records. The scheme has to be more than just a bonanza for tax consultants.

“It is essential that businesses have certainty over the details, especially since the Government is determined to roll this out in 2019 while the Treasury had recommended a start in 2020 to allow proper policy implementation.

“Megan Woods has previously said some 3000 companies were expected to be eligible for the tax credit but seems to have retreated from that target today by saying it will be more than 2000.

“Those that are ‘pre-profit’ will be covered by temporary arrangements subject to review down the track because the issues were too complex to resolve now.

“The Government has lifted its incentive from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent of eligible R&D spending but that’s still below the 20 per cent rate that applies to Growth Grants under the existing programme.

“Changes in this version of the policy, including dropping the R&D spending threshold to $50,000 from $100,000 and what appears to be an expansion of eligible organisations, won’t come without extra cost yet the Government still claims it will cost $1 billion over four years.

“Australia’s comparable scheme ended up costing twice its original budget, so Ms Woods needs to explain how the Government will stay within budget.

“Small and unprofitable firms were able to find support under National’s innovation ecosystem. We understood that the big companies of tomorrow emerge from the risk-taking entrepreneurs of today.”

The Government has held onto submissions to its research and development tax credit proposal for three months and there’s no sign yet that it has tackled the inequities, National’s Research, Science and Innovation spokesperson Parmjeet Parmar says.

“In the current version of the Government’s plan, firms currently spending less than $100,000 don’t qualify for the same credit as larger companies. That effectively rules out the big companies of tomorrow because it puts a hurdle in front of small businesses today.”

“It makes no sense to treat one dollar of R&D spending any differently to another dollar just because a business is small. If anything, they are the group with the most to gain because small businesses can be hand-to-mouth as they seek to stay afloat and grow.

“The Government needs to abolish the $100,000 threshold and also needs to find a way to deliver some form of assistance for start-ups that may undertake large amounts of R&D but are yet to record a positive cash flow. Currently, they’re entitled to growth grants.

“Businesses, particularly start-ups, need certainty because they tend to be investing for the long term. Often they need to know what the business environment will be like for next 3-4 years to have the confidence to invest.

“Megan Woods pushed out the deadline for the Bill by a month but her officials will still be under pressure. It is now expected in October to be enacted by April 2019.

“Ms Woods is in a difficult position because the current design of the policy has already been costed in Budget 2018 at $1 billion over the next four years.

“Removing the $100,000 threshold and/or extending growth grants now will significantly increase the cost of the policy and put further strain on the Government’s Budget Responsibility Rules, which it already looks like breaching.

Megan Woods appears to expect pre-profit start-up companies to hope and pray they won’t be overlooked by the Government’s proposed R&D tax incentive plan, National’s Science and Innovation spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar says.

Dr Woods told Parliament that of the 300 businesses currently receiving a growth grant through Callaghan Innovation, some 200 aren’t yet profitable. These 200 businesses will not be able to receive a tax credit under the Minister’s proposal.

“This could be the tip of the iceberg because not all start-ups seek grants during their growth phase and the Minister has no numbers for the total proportion of NZ businesses undertaking R&D during their growth phase.

“They won’t take any comfort from Dr Woods’ assurance that she’s ‘committed to finding solutions’ or that officials are still working on that bit of the plan. Assurances don’t help New Zealand innovators when they’re trying to project their cash flows.

“It also isn’t clear that start-ups who have reached profit will be as well off under the Minister’s plan since the growth grants are currently set at 20 per cent and the tax incentive put out for consultation was at a 12.5 per cent rate, a gap noted in MBIE’s advice to Dr Woods last November.

“What a tragedy it would be for New Zealand if the next big thing ended up walking away or quitting because of this lack of certainty. They deserve better.”

Last night the Government voted down my Members Bill that would improve health outcomes for mothers and their babies by ensuring that newborns are enrolled with a GP before they are six weeks old, National MP Parmjeet Parmar says.

“Despite the Government claiming that it wants to do more for the health and wellbeing of children and after the three Government parties unanimously supported this Bill in its first reading, they have now all voted down this Bill.

“In an attempt to pretend to address this issue the Government is planning to take a watered down approach by looking to implement an extremely low target for newborns to be enrolled with their GP before they are six weeks old.

“The Government members on the Health Select Committee have agreed to introduce two performance measures for newborn enrolments through DHB annual plans. These would aim to have 55 per cent of newborns enrolled with a GP by six weeks of age and 85 per cent of newborns enrolled by three months of age.

“Their suggested target of 55 per cent as a performance measure is far too low. Six weeks is a significant amount of time for a newborn to not be enrolled with a GP and for the health system to be unaware.

“My Member’s Bill would introduce a very basic legislative framework to remove some barriers and implement the necessary systems to ensure that newborns are enrolled with a GP as early as possible and before six weeks of age.

“Having a system in place to track GP enrolments and encouraging earlier enrolment would immediately bring about better health outcomes for new babies.

“It would not only ensure that health and development checks were carried out early but would also provide a vital opportunity for GPs to inform and connect the family with a range of other support options including both health and social interventions.

“The improved health outcomes are compelling reasons for us to have a legislative framework to enrol newborns before they are six weeks old.

“The Government should adopt the principles of my Members’ Bill that it has just voted down and start work to improve health outcomes for newborns.”

The only publically released submission so far on the proposed R&D tax credit scheme will worry the Government as it highlights some industry concerns about whether the tax credit system will boost R&D investment, National’s Research, Science and Innovation Spokesperson Dr Parmjeet Parmar says.

“The Government will be concerned that NZTech – an organisation that represents over 800 technology organisations in New Zealand – has raised a number of concerns it has with the Government’s proposed tax credit scheme.

“Among NZTech’s many concerns is R&D tax credits will not benefit high growth firms that run at losses during periods of rapid investment in R&D.

“Because tax credits do not offer any cash flow relief to start-ups who are yet to return a profit, there are serious questions as to whether R&D tax credits will do anything to lift R&D spending given the importance that start-up firms play in driving R&D spending in New Zealand.

“NZTech’s submission raises further concerns on the high level of uncertainty during the transition period away from growth grants. Members also have issues around what will be classifiable as R&D expenditure and the fact that a tax credit rate of only 12.5 per cent will offer significantly less material benefit than growth grants which will therefore reduce the incentive to invest.

“In light of the concerns raised by NZTech in their submission on the Government’s proposed R&D tax credit scheme – which is the only publically released submission to date – we encourage the Government to publically release all submissions.

“Without such transparency, the public will be left in the dark as to whether abolishing the growth grant scheme, which has a proven track record of lifting R&D spending, is actually supported by industry players that undertake R&D.”