Kirkpatrick DanaDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'm pleased to speak on this bill the European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill and I'm very happy to be able to ensure along with my colleagues that the free-trade agreement (FTA) with the EU is signed as soon as possible.I'd like to commend the Minister for Trade the Hon Todd McClay in getting this free-trade agreement on to the work programme in such an expedient manner and please can I also acknowledge everyone who has worked on this over the years since 2015. It certainly has taken a lot of work and there will have been an enormous number of people involved to get it to this point. It's exciting to be part of the bipartisan approach to futureproofing our export sector. The free-trade agreement has the ability to transform our relationships with our trading partners across so many sectors and it certainly is time to get this finished. Whilst it will be an incredible boost for many sectors it'll also provide an improvement to the returns of dairy and beef and lamb.I want to take a little bit of a different approach so I just thought it would be worthwhile remembering how this would affect some of the people who work in the primary industries and in the export sectors. I listened to our colleagues talk about the Māori effort that's gone into the free-trade agreement. I think it's worth remembering the enormous contribution that Māori agribusiness contributes to our sectors and how this will benefit them. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has done a wonderful graphic where they talked about all of the sectors within ag" and "hort" and many others that will benefit from a free-trade agreement and I think—certainly in my part of the country—that the free-trade agreement will benefit just about every single one of those businesses. In kiwifruit in mānuka honey in wine in apples in horticulture; red meat dairy fishing everything you can think of. So I'm very pleased that the agribusinesses in both Māori and non-Māori sectors will all benefit from this. So it's a very exciting and happy time for us.Just in terms of some of the other responses that it's worth thinking about Horticulture New Zealand said in its submission to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee that an agreement would reduce uncertainty in New Zealand exporters supplying EU markets and allow supply chain planning to be more effective without being forced to decide on shipping and supply during a short tariff-free window. Their thoughts were that this would allow New Zealand and European growers to partner more effectively to enable year-round supply of new innovative high-quality and safe goods and services for EU consumers without prices being distorted by tariffs.Under the free-trade agreement New Zealand's conditions of access will be significantly improved with 91 percent of New Zealand's current goods trade to the EU able to enter duty-free from day one. That is a significant benefit to us. This will rise to 97 percent after seven years with estimated tariff savings exceeding $100 million from day one—the highest immediate tariff savings of any New Zealand FTA—growing to $110 million after seven years.Zespri another one of our organisations in horticulture that has a massive contribution said that the agreement would benefit its sector by up to $46 million which it paid out in 2022 in tariffs on $1 billion of exports. The free-trade agreement would have the ability to set Zespri up to provide more EU consumers with the highest-quality Zespri product and help deliver stronger returns for growers. That benefits all of us as we work towards it.I would also like to just remind ourselves that it's been a tough time in some of our regional communities in New Zealand and a free-trade agreement such as this provides a glimmer of hope and a massive step forward for them. I'm really excited for many in my electorate of the East Coast because this free-trade agreement will represent just that in times that have been extremely tough in cyclone-battered communities and orchards and farms and fishing zones where loss of returns across two seasons—not just one—has led to significant wellbeing and financial difficulties.So to have more certainty that tariff-free trade is available will provide hope and inspiration in a time that it is needed most in our regional communities. On that basis I am happy to commend the bill to the House."