Election 2017: Parties share science, hazard policies

Kiwis have never been better prepared for natural disasters, National says, but other parties say there's much more work to be done. Photo / File

Where do political parties stand on science funding and natural hazards? The New Zealand Science Media Centre quizzed parties* contesting this election on their policies.

Will your party maintain the current level of public spending on science, decrease it or boost it? Does your party propose any significant changes to science funding priorities? What policy measures will your party make to boost business R&D levels?

NATIONAL: The Government significantly increased investment in science and innovation through Budget 2017, adding $256 million of new funding over four years.

This increases total Government investment in science and innovation from $1.32 billion in 2015 to $1.66 billion by 2021 - an increase of 26 per cent.

The National Statement on Science Investment, launched in 2015, outlines the broader science investment priorities of the National-led Government.

Encouraging business R&D helps high-tech, innovative Kiwi companies to bring products and ideas to the market sooner, which has significant benefit for export revenues.

The Government has invested a further $74.6m in Budget 2017 to meet the rising demand for Callaghan Innovation's Growth Grants, bringing the total amount available through to the programme over the next four years to $657m.

This approach is working, between 2014 and 2016, business spending on R&D grew 29 per cent, and Callaghan Innovation grant recipients lifted their own spending by 42 per cent.

LABOUR: Labour will prioritise an increase in our public science spend to link New Zealand to the OECD average over time. We'll also strengthen innovation through a 12.5 per cent R&D tax credit.

GREEN PARTY: The Green Party will boost total spending on science and R&D; alongside this we will reduce organisational complexity, transaction costs and overheads associated with funding decisions and research delivery.

Regarding priorities, we will invest in research that contributes to sustainability through innovation, knowledge creation, adoption of appropriate technologies, and changes in practice.

We are not comfortable with public science funding being used for environmentally destructive practices like seabed mining.

We will work with the sector to reform science research in Aotearoa New Zealand from the current corporatised model of CRIs and universities to one that enables cross-disciplinary research focused on public good and economic transformation.

We will introduce a Green Infrastructure Fund to kick-start the green economy and create a Minister for Manufacturing at the heart of government.

The Green Infrastructure Fund is a government-owned, independent, for profit fund aimed at attracting private finance for transformational low carbon projects.

MAORI PARTY: Successfully aligning investment in science and innovation with Maori business potentially will lead to 150,000 additional jobs per year in the New Zealand economy by 2060; and an additional $12 billion per annum in GDP from the Maori economy.

The Maori Party will:

• Establish a priority investment fund for Maori Research and Development. We will promote collaboration between Maori entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators to improve opportunities, jobs and incomes.
• Create and resource a real and virtual incubation hub for hapu and iwi to test the economic viability of new ideas on the local and global market and to mentor researchers.

ACT: ACT opposes subsidies and grants for R&D.

They result in politicians picking favourites and skewing competition in favour of businesses best-placed to apply for grants.

We would instead use this funding to cover the cost of a corporate tax cut, allowing all businesses to keep more of their profits and reinvest in R&D or any other form of innovation.

TOP: TOP wants to see R&D levels boosted across the board.

Our low R&D levels are undoubtedly tied to our moribund productivity and relatively low wages.

New Zealand needs to grow by working smarter, not harder; by boosting the value we create, not the volume of our primary products.

Our tax policy will encourage productive investment which should see business R&D levels rise over time. In the short term we want to prime the R&D effort with government investment.

The full details of this policy are to come.

TOP wants to see government science funding become more long term and independent of ministerial interference.

Any gag clauses should be removed from publicly funded contracts to ensure that scientists can use their findings to further the public interest.

Funding should also not be so reliant on co-funding with the private sector if public good can be demonstrated.

Is the country doing enough to prepare for and respond to major natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme weather events? What policy initiatives does your party propose in this area?

NATIONAL: New Zealanders have never been better prepared for disasters, according to the latest annual disaster preparedness survey.

Current levels of preparedness are on par with the previous highest on record, which was following the Canterbury earthquakes.

The Government has invested around $550,000 to support young people to volunteer for their local emergency services, and become more involved in civil defence and emergency preparedness.

We're also investing $3m to develop and enhance GeoNet's natural hazards monitoring capability and response service.

Earlier this year the Government announced the implementation of a new nationwide cell broadcasting alert system, which is due to be up and running by the end of the year.

The alerts will deliver information about an emergency to at-risk communities faster and more reliably than ever before.

It will be a free service, making it available to everyone who uses a mobile.

We've set up a Technical Advisory Group to go up and down the country and identify improvements in New Zealand's response to natural disasters and other emergencies.

We have also set up a cross parliamentary reference group to support the work of the TAG, and provide views on any recommendations they may make.

LABOUR: New Zealand needs to be prepared for the next civil defence emergency before it happens - how we plan for a major event will determine in large part its impact.

Labour's approach will bring a more integrated and co-ordinated sector to work effectively before an emergency happens.

Labour will ensure recovery planning is embedded in our preparedness planning and training and we'll develop a more sustainable volunteer base.

Labour will also empower communities to not only be able to respond to a crisis, but also to own their own recovery.

GREEN PARTY: The effects of climate change will create a much more unstable environment, with floods and droughts expected to became harsher and more frequent.

The defence forces have relevant expertise.

We will ensure that our armed forces retain and further develop the organisational structure and processes to use their various capabilities in co-operation with civilian agencies, personnel and equipment in civil defence tasks, search and rescue, disaster relief, fisheries monitoring, and sea border control work.

This means co-operating closely with the following agencies: Police, Immigration, Customs, agriculture and fisheries, environment, conservation and Civil Defence.

Recovery and rehabilitation of disaster-affected areas also requires greater commitment to local decision-making and appropriate roles for central and local government.

MAORI PARTY: We support greater education and preparedness campaigns to avoid unintended harm, injury and/or deaths occurring as a result of natural disasters.

We have supported all legislation this term through the House that has sought to improve our response to natural hazards.

ACT: Act is wary of responses to disasters that may be politically expedient, but actually do more harm than good.

For example, there were unacceptable breaches of property rights during the Government's response to the Canterbury earthquakes.

Furthermore, earthquake-strengthening rules motivated by these earthquakes have created disproportionate costs in low-risk areas like Auckland and Northland.

In terms of damage to property, Act's policy of replacing building consenting processes with a mandatory insurance regime would ensure greater resilience than blunt regulations to the unpredictable nature of natural disasters.

TOP: The main issues here are that we are not investing in the science and even when we do we don't use the available science to have conversations with the public.

Climate change adaptation, earthquakes and tsunamis are all good examples.

TOP favours supporting local authorities to start having difficult conversations with specific areas about how we deal with these issues.

Government can help these conversations by providing the science and more central guidance through National Policy Statements.

Obviously these are difficult and scary conversations and need to be handled carefully.

In our view well managed collaborative processes that work with locals and draw on outside expertise to inform them of the issues and potential solutions are an essential part of making this work.

• New Zealand First has not yet responded to the questions.