McKelvie Ian: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMcKelvie Ian: General Debate[Sitting date: 14 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7219. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]IAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei): What a week this has been for rural provincial New Zealand. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is bringing some $2.7 billion worth of tariff relief to New Zealand over the next 15 years much of which—over 70 percent in fact—will benefit the agricultural sector thus filtering into our small towns and provincial cities. We have a surplus which is fantastic for the morale of the country. As a farmer I say that surpluses are always nice to achieve.We also see tourism continuing to grow in regional New Zealand with over 3 million people arriving here this year for longer and spending more money. We have an arrest in the woeful 1080 scare which is a great credit to our police and must also give confidence to our food safety authorities. Hopefully once the courts have given this very strong message it will give a strong message to anyone else considering such a heinous crime. Finally we have some positivity in the meat industry. The Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is a triumph for all who have worked so hard under Tim Groser’s leadership. The results will no doubt contribute significantly to calculations in future Bill English Budgets as will the great result our tourism industry is achieving.The benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement cannot be understated. In all other free-trade agreements that we have signed to date initial calculations have been well and truly exceeded. In fact in the Chinese free-trade agreement trade quadrupled in the following 9 years. Consequently you would assume that the tariff benefit quadrupled in that same period. So the predictions made early in that agreement have been well and truly exceeded. Reduced tariffs are just the beginning. There are many other barriers that inhibit our export efforts and these will now be able to be addressed as the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement creates a special relationship enabling those discussions to take place. Every sector of our rural economy will benefit from this agreement.There is significant potential for processed timber as tariffs are torn down to a tune initially of $9 million. This is borne out by comments made by Bill McCallum chair of The Wood Council of New Zealand when he said: “These lost opportunities are not included in the $9 million saving because current tariffs make exports unprofitable.” What he effectively meant by that was that the market has not been supplied because there is no incentive at all for New Zealand manufacturers to involve themselves in that market. For the Rangitīkei electorate with very large forestry holdings the opportunity is enormous and exciting. We have large processing plants in Tangiwai two of them—Taihape and Santoft. These are all areas in need of jobs and opportunities.Another quote that I think reflects the opinions of New Zealanders came from the chair of the Federation of Māori Authorities Inc. Traci Houpapa who welcomed the signed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement as a new approach to strategic and political partnerships. “New Zealand is a trading nation we must optimise our exports and trade relationships for the wealth and prosperity of all New Zealanders.”How interesting that those sitting opposite who claim to be such profound supporters and such champions in fact of rural and provincial New Zealand cannot in Labour’s case decide where they sit on this extraordinary opportunity. In the case of New Zealand First and the Greens they totally oppose it. So much for their interest in provincial New Zealand.Imagine how the people of Northland must feel as they note their fresh new MP opposing an initiative that will bring many millions of dollars into that province. Napier is the home of large timber and agricultural interests and they are seeing their member sitting firmly on a picket fence. Of course those Greens who have no home—as their supporters listen to the member from Marlborough banging on about the dangers of Roundup when his local fishing and wine industries stand to gain massively from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. The member from New Zealand First accused Minister Groser of writing a blank cheque. He effectively has given rural New Zealand a blank cheque. Rural New Zealand now just has to fill in the numbers. I think this is a spectacular result for New Zealand—very exciting.Finally I want to make brief mention of a presentation that will take place in Parliament tonight. A small rural trust from Taumarunui is coming to present their efforts around whānau ora and the welfare of the Taumarunui community. I think that will be well worth attending. Thank you.