Last evening, in Auckland, I
heard
the Chairman
of Heinz US, Dr Tony O'Reilly (who, in addition to Heinz's ownership of our
largest food processor, also has substantial personal investments in this
country), advocate New Zealand as a 'regional corporate capital'.

Why would someone like Dr O'Reilly hold that view? No doubt,
as one of Ireland's great rugby players of the 50s and 60s, he admires at least
one thing that we do very well (confirmed again in Dublin over the past
weekend). But that's not sufficient to support such a view.

He cited many reasons for
preferring New Zealand over, say, Sydney, Australia, calling this 'the most
rational in which to locate [an] international headquarters', including -

we
have no capital gains tax;

a more
'pro-business environment';

a
'first class' legal and banking system; and

a 'simple political system'.

I can find no better 'text for
today's address.