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Good evening; I am very pleased to welcome you all to the beautiful Trentham Racecourse here in Upper Hutt.  I know that having this ‘Biz’ event will inspire you to greater things in your business.

Upper Hutt has a fine reputation of innovative SMEs in high value goods manufacturing and exporting, thanks to firms such as TenderRest and VenTech Systems.
The speakers that have agreed to present at these events are inspirational and I would like to acknowledge Tenby Powell, convenor of the Government’s Small Business Development Group.  

The future is looking brighter for small business in New Zealand.  

Interest rates and inflation are at record lows.  

We are just starting to see the first positive signs of productivity growth since 2006.

New Zealand is faring a lot better than many other countries.

Recent surveys by the BNZ and ANZ have found small business owners are feeling more confident about their prospects in the year ahead.  

I move that the Education Amendment Bill be now read a first time.

I nominate the Education and Science Committee to consider the Bill.  

This Government is committed to ensuring that every young New Zealander has the skills and qualifications required to successfully participate in the modern economy. 

The first objective of the Bill is to provide for Partnership Schools|Kura Hourua.

It is a pleasure to be here today to award the supreme prize for www.business.govt.nz’s ANZ Flying Start Business Plan Competition.

More than 760 people put forward ideas for the ANZ Flying Start competition – the kind of ideas that show off the ingenuity and entrepreneurship that New Zealanders are renowned for. 

Many of these ideas, when partnered with a solid business plan, have the ingredients for success in New Zealand, and across the globe.

I move that the:

Council members, Chief Executive Chin, and distinguished guests – tena koutou.

I am honoured to be here today to recognise the commendable and exceptional work of those who have contributed to standards development in New Zealand.

I would also like to acknowledge my Parliamentary colleague, the Honourable Lianne Dalziel, for the work she has done in this area in her previous role as Commerce Minister.

I understand that there are over 2000 volunteers who freely offer their time and expertise to Standards New Zealand.

'Learning from the Past - Adapting for our Future' is the first publication of the New Zealand Law Foundation’s regulatory reform project, a major multi-year study of regulation in this country.

I want to acknowledge the foresight of the Law Foundation in making this project possible.

The Law Foundation fills a unique role in New Zealand in supporting large-scale, long running projects of this type that aren’t driven by short-term priorities, but can make an important and lasting contribution to public policy.