Stewart Barbara: Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Stewart Barbara: Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:629;Page:1620] 
BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of New Zealand First to speak to the Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill. I advise the last speaker Tim Groser that the fly has landed in a positive place for all New Zealanders which is far preferable to being Little Bo Peep who is valiantly trying to keep all of her sheep in order as the National Party is doing at present. We know too that the dags of those sheep were in such a bad condition that the flies were not tempted at all. 
This legislation basically amends the Tariff Act to allow the Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Agreement to come into force. With that comes the obligation on each partner—New Zealand Chile Singapore and Brunei—to phase out duties. Singapore of course is already the subject of an agreement so in reality we are talking about Chile and Brunei. New Zealand First will support the bill going to a select committee to enable members’ scrutiny and public submissions and to acknowledge the strategic potential of an agreement that involves both Asia and South America—two areas of great importance to our future. 
The agreement comes out of negotiations that began at APEC in 2002 and the national interest analysis was tabled in the House last year. It is New Zealand’s first agreement with a Latin American country. Tariff reduction will be phased in with the longest protection—relating to textiles clothing footwear and carpet—lasting until 2015. New Zealand First has long advocated that policy makers should give priority to New Zealand industries and communities when setting any programmes on tariff. In this instance the value of the agreement is clearly strategic rather than financial. New Zealand goods going to Chile have been incurring a little over $2 million in import duties and only $50000 to $60000 for our exports to Brunei. Those are not earth-shattering figures but for a party that has succeeded in gaining an agreement that 2007 will be an export year and for a party that has long advocated that we need to win the export and employment stakes not some artificial tariff-removal race the opportunity to open doors in South America and Asia is not lost on us. Around 99 percent of imports from Brunei and around two-thirds of those from Chile already enter New Zealand duty-free. 
Although New Zealand First is absolutely not committed to a global liberalisation agenda it is not inclined to oppose the measure on ideological grounds when it has such strategic potential for our exporters with little real threat to local producers. Let us consider the costs and benefits of the agreement both in light of our trade and foreign relations objectives and against the background of a global liberalisation programme that clearly requires serious review. The place to do that and to allow the public to have its say is at the select committee. So New Zealand First supports the bill going to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee.