Luxon announces science system overhaul in ‘State of Nation’ speech

Thursday, 23 January 2025

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the country’s science system will be overhauled and a new national shop front will open for foreign capital, as his Government tries to grow the economy.

In a “State of the Nation” speech to an Auckland Business Chamber lunch at the Cordis hotel on Thursday, Luxon announced the dismantling of Callaghan Innovation and the distilling of seven Crown Research Institutes into three “Public Research Organisations”.

Alongside this would be a fourth research organisation with a new focus: commercial technology such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

“Right now, scientists see too few of the proceeds of their own research. Too often, any resulting intellectual property is swallowed up by universities and effectively shelved with any potential commercialisation often an afterthought,” Luxon said, in the speech.

“I want us to commercialise our brilliant ideas, so that our science system makes us all wealthier.”

The Government was also readying to “roll out the welcome mat” for foreign capital by opening an organisation, as previously promised, to receive investors’ interest.

Luxon said that “Invest New Zealand” would be “modelled off the success of Ireland and Singapore”, and led by Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay. This received light applause from the crowd.

“The objective is to increase capital investment across a range of critical sectors – like banking and fintech, key infrastructure like transport and energy, manufacturing, and innovation.”

The organisation would initially open within New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and then become an autonomous Crown entity.

Luxon said the Government wanted more competition in the market, hence it was “powering up” KiwiBank.

“Corporate showdowns too often look and feel like a staged wrestling match. Big names. Big talk. But no damage done.

“We are cracking open the construction industry to competition from overseas products.

“And we are unshackling the energy sector.“

Mining also “needs to play a much bigger role in the New Zealand economy”, Luxon said.

“It’s easy in politics to say you want a sovereign wealth fund like Norway, or much higher incomes like Australia – but it’s much harder to say you want the oil and mining that pays for it.”

As with tourism, which Luxon said had a “massive role to play in our growth story”. The tourism businesses needed Government assistance to “make their lives easier”, and he expected this to happen this year - though did not specify how.

He also urged Auckland Council, and Mayor Wayne Brown in the audience, to lift a restriction on the number of concerts that can be held at Eden Park every year - as Kiwis spend thousands heading to Australia for shows.

“It’s always easy for someone to find a reason to get in the way and find a problem – but we need to shift our mindset and embrace growth.

“Take the Port of Tauranga’s plans to expand … They just want to get on and do business … But instead, they’ve been stuck for years, just fighting for permission to grow so they can get on with it.”

“We need larger ports. We need more concerts. We need more jobs, more investment, more innovation, exports, and talent.

“The bottom line is we need a lot less no and a lot more yes.”

Luxon closed his speech by saying his ancestors came to New Zealand searching for a better life and a “place to call home”, and achieving the country’s potential meant “keeping up the fight”.

He would not be “knocked down” by the fight, for “the bakers and miners that came before me - and all the children and grandchildren that will come long after we are gone”.