Hayes John: Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Hayes John: Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:655;Page:4911] 
JOHN HAYES (National—Wairarapa) 
: 
 The Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill and the Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill were created from the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Bill by the Committee of the whole House. The legislation went through the Committee of the whole House with only minor procedural changes. 
As I have sat here this afternoon listening to the erudite speeches from my colleagues on both sides of the House I reflected on what if I was a constituent in say the Wairarapa electorate this would do for me. I say to the sheep farmers to the east of Pahiatua to the dairy farmers in the south of the Wairarapa and north into the west of Dannevirke that they will all be better off because of this legislation. I say to the grape-growers and the kiwifruit-growers that they will all be better off because of this legislation. I say to the companies near Dannevirke like Metalcraft Industries and to the companies in Masterton that are actively engaged in producing for example things like axe heads or monitoring the weather situation in vineyards in New Zealand and many parts of the globe that they will all be better off because of this agreement. 
This legislation will amend our domestic laws so that New Zealand can enter the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area on 1 July 2009. The legislation amends the Tariff Act 1988 and the Customs and Excise Act 1996. I regret to say to the winegrowers in Martinborough that no it will not reduce their excise tax obligations! We are doing this so that New Zealand can comply with its obligations under the agreement that has been as colleagues have pointed out under negotiation across three Ministers and for a good 9 or 10 years. The agreement requires New Zealand Australia and four ASEAN countries to tell each other that they have completed the domestic procedures for the agreement to come into force—yesterday. As has been pointed out the agreement was signed in Thailand in February. It came through our Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee—and I thank my colleagues for their constructive contributions there—and I also say to the House that all the submissions we received were positive and supportive particularly from organisations like Fonterra and other companies that are actively engaged in export. 
Hon Pete Hodgson 
: What about Jane Kelsey John? 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Did you read Jane Kelsey? 
JOHN HAYES 
: Jane Kelsey had a different view but that was quite predictable and it has been known to this House over many many years. In a democracy people are allowed to have alternative points of view. But then Jane Kelsey is not actively engaged in exporting so I will leave that there. 
The agreement is important because the ASEAN countries are close to New Zealand. As has been pointed out there are just under 600 million people—566 million people—in the ASEAN region and it is an important existing trade partner. What is really important is our ability to increase our trade to those countries and if we are going to lift ourselves up the OECD ladder we really have to do that. We have to increase our trade and Fonterra is reporting to us that despite the difficulties over melamine in China our exports to that country are strongly growing. China is not a member of this agreement but it is in the general region and what is going on in China is reflected elsewhere in the region which is why the Government has run a trade surplus of $860 million in the last month. When we think about countries like Burma I think New Zealand can also assist those countries to move forward because of their closer economic relationship with ourselves. I think there have been significant trade increases between New Zealand and the ASEAN countries as a result of developing strong relationships and also removing barriers to trade. A colleague just asked me whether this would impact on our beef exports to Indonesia because of the halal slaughter requirements. That issue is not caught up in this framework except that the framework provides a mechanism for New Zealand to sit down with the other countries that are signatories to this agreement and engage in a dialogue to resolve potential difficulties between us. Doing that enables a much greater certainty in our trade relationships and it gives a degree of confidence to our businesses by minimising the risk they face in engaging in trade with other countries. 
The agreement will also enable us to jointly develop opportunities in trade development and service delivery where working together would reduce costs increase speed and efficiency and help develop knowledge skills and resources across a range of countries. All this becomes much more important in an environment where we are facing a significant economic downturn and recession because although some companies including in my own town Bouzaid and Ballaben have run into difficulties by signing this agreement we are opening up new opportunities for a whole lot of new companies. One thing for sure is that jobs are lost but jobs are created as an economy moves forward. This agreement will also open doors for investment and the provision of services where New Zealand is currently unable to meet demand. 
As other colleagues have pointed out the agreement with the Philippines on trade and labour and trade and the environment provides certainty that human rights and environmental standards that we value are maintained by our close trade partner. It is also very important in my electorate that we have this arrangement for engaging in labour because Filipino people are playing a very strong role in our dairy sector—particularly so in my electorate. 
The agreement will move us forward and open the door for future developments as we look ahead. It means that New Zealand will be well placed in the centre of these developments. As I said in our select committee it is very clear that this agreement has huge support from our business community. As I said some time ago in this House Asia had an annual growth rate of around 6 percent in 2008. But from 1980 to 2008 Asian GDP multiplied by four times China’s GDP multiplied by three times and India’s GDP multiplied by three times. In the same period Europe’s GDP multiplied only twice. Asia’s share of world trade has climbed from 16 to 28 percent in that period. Over the same time period America managed only a 21 percent market share and Europe’s market share of world trade declined from 28 to 20 percent. What we are doing with this agreement is locking ourselves into a part of the world that has the potential to grow very quickly. That has to be a reason for improving the prosperity of every entrepreneur in this country every business in this country and every employee in this country. With those words I thoroughly commend the bill to the House. Thank you.