Cameron MarkMARK CAMERON (ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity to speak on the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill. I know as the hours get a bit longer in the evening and I'm being collegial what a bleak rather dark speech from the Green member Golriz Ghahraman—rather disappointing actually. It's seldom that we hear something at this time of the night that is pretty much universally agreed to. The United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill as the ACT Party has it is a good piece of legislation. This bill seeks to amend New Zealand law in order to enable New Zealand to implement its obligations under the free-trade agreement (FTA) between both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.The bill amends the Copyright Act 1994—I've got the legislation in front of me. It amends the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act 2001—well there you go. It speaks to amending the Overseas Investment Act 2005. Suffice it to say there is a lot in that detail. And several other pieces of legislation speaking to Part 4 and Part 5—several amendments including the apple transitional export quota. All good stuff. ACT fully supports the ability to strengthen our trade ties and address these issues directly. As was canvassed previously by other members in the House the ACT Party and parties generally don't see any notable negative impacts from this agreement. Whether it's imports or exports whether it's concerns around health or immigration or our small and medium sized businesses and enterprise the overall economy stands to benefit from this free-trade agreement.As has already been well articulated the United Kingdom and New Zealand—the economies in both countries—share a common bond. The United Kingdom economy is the fifth-largest in the world. It speaks to billions and billions of dollars in terms of GDP. This FTA could further improve the economic relationship between both New Zealand and the United Kingdom and this has been previously canvassed in the House this evening. Ultimately we believe this FTA could deliver and boost real GDP numbers by more than $700 million. And I think there were other members in the House that articulated up to a billion dollars in GDP revenue. ACT has always been a party that supports free markets. We articulate that routinely. Enterprise and opportunities to expand our tradable footprint around the world can only be seen as a good thing.An amendment to enable the application of the preferential tariff rates and agree to the New Zealand and the UK trade agreement moving forward. An amendment to provide for the Transitional New Zealand UK Free Trade Agreement Safeguard Mechanism—I'm not quite sure I understand fully what that means but I'm sure it's a good thing procedurally—moving forward. An amendment to give effect to the extension of the copyright term and as some previous members in the House have articulated the importance of that moving from a 50- to a 70-year period I believe. This free-trade agreement provides New Zealand 50 years to implement that reality. As was clearly articulated by my colleague Brooke van Velden the ACT Party believes that our foreign party speaks to our values on the world stage and signing such deals are a reflection of the interests of New Zealand and the reflections of the United Kingdom. Ultimately it's good for the New Zealand economy and the economies of both countries in fact.We all accept a long history has been shared with the United Kingdom. It is a liberal democratic country one that New Zealand's values of democracy are shared hand in glove. ACT has a happy relationship and seeks to have this piece of legislation ratified into law. Ultimately free-trade agreements help New Zealand grow business opportunities create jobs and higher-paying wages and by virtue of what we've canvassed tonight that could only be a good thing. Such FTAs that push down tariff barriers create an unlimited access to market goods under the right circumstances and ultimately lead to better economic outcomes for all those involved. Industrial sectors like the beef and sheep trade will see their duty-free quotas for New Zealand beef be incentivised in annual instalments from I believe 12000 metric tonnes to 60000 tonnes in a 15-year roll-out period. Then to speak of free-trade tariffs for the sheep meat transitional quota which would reach 50000 metric tonnes for a year from a five-year through a 15-year period.Sadly if one makes the comparison between the success of the FTA with the United Kingdom and the economic lethargy of the FTA between New Zealand and the European Union it becomes abundantly clear to those that have listened in this House beforehand that the real economic stimulus in this piece of legislation was nothing more than an economic trickle in the EU - New Zealand agreement.In the end the ACT Party recognises that as our geopolitical landscapes are constantly shifting around the world and economics around the world constantly jostle with one another as they transition out of the economic woes of COVID-19 trade agreements like this one are going to be tantamount to good economic outcomes and ultimately create this economic low-hanging fruit that we all so desperately need. The ACT Party fully supports this piece of legislation.