Jones Dail: Budget Debate 
Jones Dail: Budget Debate 
[Volume:626;Page:20858] 
DAIL JONES (NZ First) 
: 
 I intend to speak on trade matters for New Zealand First but perhaps in passing I can touch on Dr Ashraf Choudhary’s comments on the Indian community and his unfortunate remarks I thought with regard to Dr Worth who is in good spirits tonight. We all enjoy the camaraderie of our members from time to time. 
It is true that people who come here from South Asia work hard and save money. But they take advantage of the New Zealand way of life. What happens in India? One cannot borrow money in India but if one does want to borrow money in India the daily rate is 56 percent and if one does not pay it back a Pathan debt collector collects it from one. Mr Choudhary agrees with me. It is a totally different way of life in India and I do not think we can compare what happens in India with what happens here. They are two different things. I just make that point. 
Mr Choudhary all Indians and everyone who immigrates to New Zealand have a wonderful opportunity in New Zealand and everyone shares in that opportunity—New Zealanders and others. Indians are no different from Chinese UK people and whatever all of whom were entitled in those days to State Advances Corporation loans—subsequently called Housing Corporation loans—at 3 percent for 25 years. I myself never got one of those loans because I worked a bit too hard but they were available to all New Zealanders. That is the New Zealand way of life everyone has the advantage of it and it was unfortunate that Mr Choudhary adopted the line he did. 
However moving on to other issues and looking at New Zealand’s trading way of life and what is happening at the present time especially as far as the Budget is concerned I must say that one of the most disappointing features of the Budget was Dr Cullen’s admission that New Zealand’s trade situation would be in difficulties in the coming years ahead and especially in the short term. We would have thought that a Budget that had such a prediction in it would try to do something about that. What did this Budget have in it for exporters? The Opposition is silent now. The Government is silent now. This Budget had nothing in it for exporters. There were no policies to encourage exporters to get some sort of tax advantage or export credit as a result of breaking into new areas and doing the hard yards which is so important in that area. 
I spoke to a manufacturers association last year and we discussed how many of today’s companies that are doing so well got their start way back in the 1970s and the 1980s by getting export incentive grants to encourage them to go overseas to develop new markets and to grow New Zealand’s produce development and exports from there. That does not happen now. It should be happening now and New Zealand First intends to make sure it can happen in the future. A feature of New Zealand First’s policy is to aid exporters and to encourage trade. Without trade we do not survive. Trade is our lifeblood and New Zealand First’s economic policy prescription is based on a partnership with people in promoting sustainable export-led economic growth that will lead to job creation and enable the savings that will facilitate our social progress. 
Of course those are fine words but what do they actually mean? New Zealand First will implement a tax abatement scheme that will reduce the tax rate on new export net profit to 20 percent to ensure that exporting opportunities and innovation are not lost. I shall repeat that: our tax rate on new export net profit for companies and businessmen will be 20 percent—not 30 percent not 33 percent or whatever. We want to make sure that we continue to have new markets and new development in the export area to ensure that New Zealanders have a future. This Budget has nothing in it for exporters—nothing at all. This Government has survived on the back of exporters who have spent their money and tried desperately to improve their companies’ situation in very difficult times and all they have got is a high New Zealand dollar and low overseas currencies. That is not helping their businesses terribly much. 
What happens? They come back to New Zealand the wage rates are not good enough and the staff they have trained go off to Australia. Again that is a disadvantage to our exporters. We have to make sure that our exporters are earning enough and get enough in the way of tax breaks so that they can pass something on to their employees who will stay in New Zealand. 
Of course one of the areas that is causing great concern at the moment in the community is the export to Australia of pipfruit—apples and pears. New Zealand First in its policy is making it clear that we will review all current and future bilateral free-trade agreements including the Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia. We are saying that in reviewing the Closer Economic Relations agreement we will give priority to gaining access for New Zealand apples to the Australian market and if necessary advancing that by referring the matter to the World Trade Organization. 
There was a time in this House when Labour at least stopped to listen to apple growers or pipfruit growers in Nelson or Hawke’s Bay and took notice of what they had to say. I remember that because when I was in the House from 1975 to 1984 one of the biggest problems in trying to change the practice of selling apples in 2-kilogram bags to selling an apple a time was that it was opposed by the Nelson and Hawke’s Bay growers and even the Central Otago growers. They somehow saw a disadvantage to them if a customer could buy apples singly rather than in 2-kilogram bags. That law persisted for a long time because the Nelson Hawke’s Bay and Central Otago growers wanted it that way. Well that law finally went but it survived for as long as it did only because Labour listened to those growers—and to some extent the National Party at the time although when I was in the House I was opposed to that and Jo Gurbac and others in the Kumeu-Henderson area will know of my opposition to that attitude. 
However things have moved on and I note that with regard to growers in the Nelson area their picking is a little bit late and they want the opportunity to sell their applies in Australia. The member for Hastings the member over there for the Central Otago area and Damien O’Connor who puts up his hand too should all be doing something to make sure that we can sell our apples in Australia. 
Hon Damien O'Connor 
: We are. 
DAIL JONES 
: Mr O’Connor should have been listening to the Minister for Trade Negotiations today. In 6 years this Labour Party Government has done absolutely nothing at all. The rules were changed; in 2003 a decision was made in so far as the access of American apples to Japan was concerned—the same situation as New Zealand’s situation with Australia. What has Labour done? Nothing. Time and time again we ask the Minister for Trade Negotiations Mr Jim Sutton what he is doing and he says he is doing something but all he ever does is talk and talk. He has done that all the way through and that is symptomatic of so many things in the Labour Government. Whether it is the Minister of Police the Minister of Education or the Minister of Immigration they are all just dithering. 
In my view as someone who is a trade spokesman and who is taking close notice of what Mr Sutton is not doing Mr Sutton is one of the biggest ditherers of the lot. He has had a good 6 years in which to resolve this issue but he is more willing to listen to the Tasmanian apple grower than to the Nelson Central Otago or Hawke’s Bay apple grower. He cares more for the people of Tasmania than he does for the people out in the provinces of New Zealand. That is the way this Labour Government seems to work today. It does not give two hoots any more about the people in the provinces. If it did it would simply have stated to the Australians at a meeting probably 3 years ago that unless our apples got access to Australia the issue would go to the World Trade Organization now. It is as simple as that. That is what New Zealand First is going to do. The issue would go to the World Trade Organization now—no ifs no buts no maybes. 
We get fruit crops and other products from Australia that are riddled with pests. Pears tomatoes strawberries grapes oranges and rock melons have all had pest interceptions in New Zealand since 2000. Let us consider rock melon. There have been 2037 pest interceptions on rock melon imports from Australia. We should be saying to the Australians that if they want to get smart and use some sort of biosecurity means to not allow our apples into Australia then quite simply we will do the same to them. It might be tit for tat and it might be schoolboy nonsense but if the Australians recognise only schoolboy nonsense then that is the game we have to play. We have to go back into their courtyard. If they want to bowl underarm we have to bowl underarm as well. This Labour Government’s attitude towards this issue is a total failure. New Zealand First will fix it.