The Insider: Does not compute

Photo / AP

New rules on tax credits for R&D spending are close to becoming law, but they won't be administered by the Inland Revenue Department. Members of Parliament have decided that since it would take time for IRD to build its expertise, they "see value" in allowing it to consult Crown agency Callaghan Innovation on difficult or marginal applications. And IRD computers can't cope with the changes, so the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment will use its systems to administer the credits. It's not the first time policy has been dictated by what IRD's computers can handle. This time, it means law changes will be needed to allow IRD, Callaghan Innovation and the Ministry to share companies' information.

The IRD is not the only agency with IT trouble. Land Information NZ has been given the new task of recording information about foreigners buying houses. The law comes into force on October 1, but it will take LINZ until December at least to get its IT systems ready. Until then, information will have to be supplied on paper by lawyers, conveyancers and others. One problem for departments when they upgrade IT systems to meet the demands of politicians and the public is that they then get bashed over the head for "gold plating" or "cost blowouts".

Unflagging devotion

Despite the flag referendum, many in National still cherish New Zealand's ties to "Mother England". The occasion of the Queen becoming Britain's longest-reigning monarch prompted avowed monarchist and list MP Paul Foster-Bell to throw a party in Parliament. It wasn't a riotous affair, though there was much eating of cake.

Fast talkers

There was a noticeable change this week in the Government's pace of dealing with its legislation. Since last year's election, National MPs have tended to take their full allocation of speeches and plenty of time on even the most banal of bills - prompting Opposition claims of filibustering to cover the lack of new legislation. This week, things changed and National MPs were making very clipped speeches, prompting more Opposition insults - this time that National wasn't respecting Parliament. It may just be the dawning realisation that the year is drawing to an end; only 27 sitting days are scheduled before the summer break, and despite a relatively light legislative programme, the bills the Government wants to get passed this year are running out of time.

Paula steps up

Paula Bennett. Photo / NZME

The grooming of Paula Bennett for a senior leadership role has continued with her being sent to represent New Zealand at the NZ-Asean 40th anniversary events this week. Notably, she will also sit in for Bill English at the Apec finance ministers' meeting at Cebu in the Philippines.

Words for pictures

Parliament's Clerk of the House has been getting flak about the lack of live captioning of broadcasts of proceedings. Initial experiments were less than successful, but now the Clerk has issued a new tender, seeking someone able to provide real-time, accurate captioning of what is said in the House - a thankless task, some might say.

Taking the plunge

DNZ Property Fund chief executive Peter Alexander. Photo / Nick Reed

DNZ Property Fund chief executive Peter Alexander surprised contacts this week with an email announcing his plan to leap off a nine-storey building. But he will be firmly attached to a rope as he abseils down the Westpac Building on Takutai Square on September 23, raising money for the Foundation For Youth Development. Abseiling seems to be the fundraising fashion: in London this week, almost 40 business leaders abseiled down three city landmarks - the Walkie Talkie, the Gherkin and the Cheesegrater - a total descent of 584m.

Rolling on

The World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks was once the great hope for those who want to break down trade barriers. If you have a long memory, you might even remember then WTO Director-General Mike Moore launching the talks in 2001. No one talks about the Doha round much any more, but hundreds of bureaucrats and diplomats are still beavering away on the talks in Geneva, and now New Zealand's WTO Ambassador Vangelis Vitalis has been appointed chairman of the "WTO Doha Round agriculture". His job seems a bit like the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to repeatedly roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down again. Happily for Vitalis, he is much better paid than Sisyphus.