Jones ShaneHon SHANE JONES (Minister of Forestry): Kia ora nō tātou. The last speaker Simon O'Connor represented as someone who showed endurance and staggered over the line. He managed to fill 10 minutes of his allotted speaking time much of which will soon be forgotten but congratulations to him for signalling that this is an effort which enjoys the support of both sides of the House.It's good to see that spirit of amity being shown by the other side of the House because there are so many improvements. I don't mean to be provocative; it's not really in my nature. There are so many improvements that have surfaced after the last 12 months and in the capable hands of Minister Parker.Chris Bishop: How many—how many?Hon SHANE JONES: Now look I don't want to be diverted by these churlish questions. The reality is that side of the House picked up a concept initiated by Phil Goff. That side of the House picked up a concept championed by the Labour leader of that time Helen Clark. It's only appropriate that the consummation happens as a consequence of some good common-sense practical advice from my leader and the leadership shown on the global stage by my leader supporting the steward of trade—trade that protects the sovereignty of Aotearoa trade that protects the interests of New Zealanders. That's why today the world is going to stare with great admiration—that the current Government has led the Parliament to a point where we can enjoy what we deserve: i.e. one of the nation States that is a signatory to this trans-Pacific deal standing up through the power of Parliament and the two main parties joining together and the other party accepting the virtue of the changes that have been made.These changes represent a great deal of local wealth creation opportunity. In the area that I hail from nigh on 25000 people are employed in export-exposed industries. When the rules and the barriers are reduced then the other provincial investments and the other provincial endowments that will grow over the next several years can flourish and there'll be fewer barriers over the foreseeable future. It's happening at a time when a fault line is emerging in terms of one of our great friends America—not quite sure whether it's actually going to commit to multilateralism or is it going to screw up that playbook? Naturally David Parker my leader Winston Peters and the Prime Minister have spoken incessantly about the importance for a small open trading nation like New Zealand to fight and defend the importance of these rules. Indeed those rules are tested from time to time not only at a World Trade Organization level but the rules that exist within agreements. And this agreement irrespective of what the Auckland University might say or the mouth of Te Arawa Annette Sykes might say—they're entitled to their views but their views are now in the dust heap of history. Because the House has met—and in fact I joined forces with the Hon Chris Finlayson in Whangarei nigh on 18 months ago where we presented the upside of this proposal to a small group of business people and a large group of hapū concerned about things to do with the Ngāpuhi claim.I may be taking a risk saying this but I thought we were a reasonable duo. We had the Minister advancing the technical qualities of the deal and I was there to pour oil and calm the waters. Now I couldn't calm the waters in so far as the eruption to do with the Kermadecs was concerned and I couldn't actually get all the hapūs on side but I said to them When you go home tonight hapūs bear in mind that the people that belong to your hapū who work in the freezing works who work in the forest who work on the farms who work on the fishing boats and who work in those areas that generate foreign exchange they're the mouths they're the households that I was thinking about."Now the fact that I should have been sharing that opportunity with the Hon Christopher Finlayson might get me in trouble with my leader but let history record—let history record—that on that particular occasion I was not the most modest of the duo. Mr Finlayson was very modest that day. And when the tempers flared he said "OK Jones although you're meant to be in the Pacific we'll leave you to handle the rest." Being a pononga a loyal servant of that regime—never to be repeated I might say for at least another nine to 12 years—I stood up and did some of the heavy lifting. Anyway jokes aside this has been through a long period of gestation and let us not forget that it started with four countries. Those countries were championed initially by Phil Goff and the country unwisely tossed that particular Government out and we suffered nine years. But that has changed and we're now looking forward to the next nine to 12 years under the current administration as we watch the fruits grow as a consequence of us joining together and passing this piece of legislation. Kia ora tātou.Hon Christopher Finlayson: I'm available for consultation as from the end of February."