PM's speech at launch of Simpson Grierson X-Tech Group

Prime Minister's speech at launch of Simpson Grierson X-Tech Group

Auckland, 23 November 2000

The launch of x-tech group at Simpson Grierson is an exciting initiative.

It seems the firm is bringing its legal services right up to date for its clients who are leading the way with the knowledge economy.

For New Zealand to retain its leading edge as a first world nation, we have to be a nation driven by innovation and the most up to date technologies.

The pace of change is now so fast that the innovators are way out ahead of the legislators - and I suspect of the lawyers!

One thing is for sure: the pace of change isn't going to slow, nor would we want it to. In fact, we have to speed it up.

Invention followed by production and marketing is the road to prosperity, for those who get there first. I was first acquainted with this reality when I called on a New Zealander in a research company in Silicon Valley sixteen years ago. His company was in a race with others to unlock the key to a sophisticated product. There were no prizes for coming second.

There is a race to the future going on, and we in New Zealand have to be committed to winning.

Our vision must be to see New Zealanders as innovators to the world, turning great ideas into great ventures.

Achieving that means bringing together a drive for ever higher participation in tertiary education, an emphasis on research and development, the availability of venture capital, and above all, attitude and commitment at every level of the society.

This move by Simpson Grierson to establish the x-tech group shows attitude. You must move to meet your clients' needs, and you have a leadership role as one of New Zealand's leading law firms.

The new economy is throwing up so many new legal issues.

Take, for example, the protection of intellectual property. How do we give meaning to that when so much can be downloaded from the internet?

Mid-afternoon I was at one of our city's leading radio stations, talking about how the internet and digital technology have transformed music and radio broadcasting. My host was adamant that his company pays for what it downloads, but suggests many may not!

New technology, e-commerce, and e-business are requiring government to review the now outdated legislative framework.

We are due, by mid next year, to pass the Electronic Transactions Bill to support an equivalent legal environment for electronic and paper based transactions.

By mid next year we aim to pass a Crimes Amendment Bill to deal with cyber crime - an anti-hacking bill.

We will need to amend the Privacy Act to keep our law on data protection up to date.

There is work to be done on the Evidence Code, to define how electronic communications can be used in evidence.

And we will be reviewing other legislation, like that on intellectual property to see that there are no significant impediments to the application of e-commerce.

As you can see, all these developments are going to keep lawyers very busy. And the pace won't slow. Government has responded to calls for leadership in the
e-commerce, e-business and e-government areas with an e-commerce strategy, outlined at the successful E-Commerce Summit in Auckland a few weeks ago.

Our vision in this area is to ensure that New Zealand is world class in embracing
e-commerce for competitive advantage, and we know we can be.

Last week at APEC the action agenda for the new economy featured prominently in the Leaders' Declaration.

On other technology issues, we are currently considering how the government will respond to the Fletcher Inquiry on Telecommunications, and hope to announce decisions before Christmas.

The Royal Commission on Genetic Modification will report next year, and that could well have implications for the legal framework around biotechnology.

I note that Simpson Grierson's x-tech initiative is timed to coincide with other initiatives of the firm, aimed at assisting start-up technology-based business. The firm has a new venture capital group, and a scheme where it takes equity positions in start-up businesses in lieu of payment.

This is all very timely, because New Zealand participation in the digital age is taking off. There are tremendous opportunities for us in the new economy, if we have the wit to take them, and we must.

Standing still is not an option for New Zealand. We've done it for too long and seen our living standards slide from near the top of the OECD ladder to near the bottom. That sapped our morale.

Our future prosperity depends on us being wired up, innovative and accepting no limits to our potential. It's not a question of failure to adapt meaning failure to thrive.

Failure to adapt may mean failure to survive for business and failure to survive as a first world nation for the country as a whole.

I'm not even prepared to contemplate failure. We are going to succeed.

Thank you, Simpson Grierson, for recognising the need for first class specialist legal services for the new economy and for the leadership role you are taking in this area of the law.