The Government is being accused of continuing "corporate welfare'' after Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced an extra $15million in funding for commercialisation of scientific research and supporting start-up companies.
Of that sum, $12million will go to the Pre-Seed Accelerator Fund, taking the Government's investment to $8.3million per year over four years, while $3million will go to Callaghan Innovation's Accelerator programmes after their successful three-year pilot.
Act New Zealand leader David Seymour said the Government's "corporate welfare'' continued to rise.
So far, examples had included payments for sheep given to a Saudi businessman, rockets launched off the Coromandel and a boat-building company owned by the world's seventh-richest man.
"If Mr Joyce really thinks that investing in these businesses provides a good economic return, he should invest in them with his own money and reap the benefits, without putting the overburdened taxpayer at risk,'' Mr Seymour said.
Mr Joyce said the funding, which was announced ahead of next week's full Budget 2016 release, was vital to support scientists and researchers and develop New Zealand's economy.
"Encouraging the development of new export-oriented high-tech businesses is a key part of the innovation stream of the Government's Business Growth Agenda.
"We are seeing hundreds of very savvy hi-tech companies from New Zealand now competing and succeeding on the world stage. These programmes are all about filling the pipeline with the next generation of quality kiwi start-ups.''
The Accelerator Fund, designed to support scientists as they turned their research into commercial products, spreads funding over five organisations which then allocate funding to specific projects.
A recent evaluation estimated projects supported by the fund had generated $188.2million in revenue since 2003, and had the potential to generate export revenues of up to $3billion.
The evaluation showed 573 projects, from biodegradable polymers to advanced sonar technologies for scanning the seabed, received $42.6million in government pre-seed investment.
The Accelerator Programme, run by Callaghan Innovation through the Lightning Lab, supports digital start-ups. Mr Joyce said the positive results from participants in the pilot was behind the Government's decision to extend the funding.
