The Hon Bill English, former Leader of the Opposition and current Finance Spokesperson has had a hand in National Party economic polices since the mid-1990’s.  His approach to innovation and investment is probably best summed up by his opening and closing sentences in the interview:

National’s approach is to create the best broader environment we can create in which people can make their own decisions

and

The economy succeeds when people demonstrate initiative, determination, and commitment, and get a reward for that.  Profit is not a dirty word, it is the engine of growth, it’s the source of jobs and investment … We want to create an environment where … angel investors … can thrive.

He alludes to “lower tax rates, less regulation, and certainty about the regulatory environment” as key ingredients in a healthy business environment.

He says that National will review the government’s activities in the innovation ecosystem over the last nine years.  “It’s time to ‘freshen [it] up’ – there are 13 innovation agencies, and that’s an oxymoron.  Government can’t create an innovation system – this must be done by people with capital and ideas.”

However given the opportunity to comment on whether Labour government’s approach specifics were “good or bad”, he seemed reluctant to provide specific criticism, other than on the R&D tax credit which he says results in much reclassification.

I had gone into the interview expecting more of a positive vision.  That said, I have no doubt that if elected, National will have a good look at the existing innovation system, with a view to simplifying it and improving efficiency in delivery.

Listen to (or download) the podcast:

Listen to (or download) Colin’s show (but note that Radio NZ have edited out Doug’s “strong language” in the interview):

One would think that such experience would stand him in good stead for articulately expressing party views on economic development, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.

I was disappointed with Doug’s grasp of the issues – he didn’t seem to know much about how startup companies or investors think, nor about the taxation system or general finance. His answers to my questions were long on generalities and short on specifics, often seemingly hedging as if he was unsure of not only what to say, but what was being discussed. And I was completely taken aback by his use of obscene language in a podcast which would be permanently available to billions of Internet users globally. No hidden microphones here, everything was above board.

Doug’s key points in this interview were:

• The tax system should be incentivised; you can’t trust people to invest in the right things just by their own want
• The government has a role to encourage the types of businesses it wants.
• We don’t have enough angel investors in the country
• Compulsory superannuation should be used for investing in NZ companies
• Entrepreneurs shouldn’t be selling their companies to overseas interests, they should be getting investment from them and continuing their personal involvement in the company.

Warning, if you don’t like obscene language, you should stop listening to this podcast about nine minutes in, when Doug reveals his true thoughts about overseas investment.

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The Greens, ACT, NZ First, Labour, and National all happily provided their best spokespeople on these subjects, which in some cases left us with with the impression that they were pretty thin on the ground in these areas. The Māori party were a no-show, despite numerous attempts to connect with Dr Pita Sharples.. The interviews are presented in the chronological order in which they were conducted.

We’ll be releasing one party interview each week over the next five weeks, so that you can contemplate how well each party grasps the core issues and engage in lively and informed discussions with your colleagues. This will be followed up with a summary podcast at the end of the series.

This week we start with Russel Norman, co-leader of The Greens. As you know, Russel is new to the leadership game, and the Greens being a small party with an agenda focussed on sustainability issues, they don’t have well-developed policies in this area. For all of that, I was struck by Russel’s openness and willingness to incorporate new thinking into the Green agenda. After the interview was over, he said that he was seeking assistance from interested investors to help The Greens with policy formulation.

Key positions:

To encourage innovation in the “right” areas:

• The right pricing structures need to be put in place
• The right tax incentives need to be in place
• Publicly funded science research should be shored up

The Green Revolution is where the future of business should be.

The broadband backbone should be publicly owned as a key piece of national infrastructure; National and Labour haven’t gone far enough with their current policies

The Greens support a capital gains tax, excluding the family home, and possibly investment into “higher risk R&D-type investments”.

Foreign Direct Investment is good, but not where it results merely in the extraction of dividends overseas. The Overseas Investment Office says “yes” too often now, and would be encouraged to look closely on the net benefit of each investment to the NZ economy.

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