9. MOANA MACKEY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Research, Science and Technology
What action has the Government taken to support science and innovation in New Zealand?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Research, Science and Technology) Link to this
More than can be listed in answer to an oral answer. Perhaps the two biggest recent changes have been the 15 percent tax credit, which began earlier this month, and the New Zealand Fast Forward programme—a $700 million investment in the pastoral and food sector announced a month before. In addition, just last night the Royal Society of New Zealand announced big changes in its role, with the New Horizons programme and the new Rutherford Foundation, of which the Government is a funding partner; the list goes on and on.
Pretty much everyone: Business New Zealand, Science New Zealand, Export New Zealand, the university sector, Federated Farmers, this sector, that sector, this corporate, that corporate; but not the New Zealand National Party. Yesterday National said: “Helen Clark’s government has failed to recognise the true scale of the investment that this country must make, and the need for these commitments to be long term.” That is a very curious statement. This is the very same National Party that voted against the research and development tax credit, and the very same National Party leader who said that the $700 million endowment in the New Zealand Fast Forward programme was a gimmick.