van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Madam Speaker. It is a pleasure to rise on behalf of the ACT Party today in support of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Legislation Bill. It is a wonderful day to speak on this particular piece of legislation and that's because we've heard the wonderful news of the agreement in principle between the New Zealand and UK Governments for a free-trade agreement which would forge stronger ties with the world's fifth-largest economy.I really do have to take my hat off and say that this is fantastic news. It's not often that I find myself in agreement with the Government on an issue but on this particular issue it is excellent work. When this deal is done we're expecting that it will boost exports by up to 40 percent and our GDP to about $1 billion. Our New Zealand farmers have helped us through the COVID recovery. It is wonderful that we have some of the finest produce in the world and that the UK will soon be able to have more of that fantastic produce and I'm glad to see our tariffs being dropped in that particular work that's been done.We are a small island nation and we're a trading nation. ACT has always proudly been the strongest proponent of free trade in this Parliament. We welcome today's news but we also welcome RCEP: the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and I'm happy to see it being ratified. But we must ensure that this isn't the end and that we continue to strive for further liberalisation with agreements with the European Union and the US. It's also important that we're signing these agreements and coming to agreements in principle in a time when we're seeing countries turn inward against each other.The ACT Party believes that our foreign policy should seek to uphold the safety of our citizens and reflect our interests and our values on the world stage. It's important that we're part of a rules-based order because we are a small island in the Pacific and a small trading nation; we do need a rules-based order. It's important that we're part of agreements where we can help shape those rules. That's the importance of us being part of RCEP. It's important for our peace and security as a country but it's also important for our peace and security as a region of the Asia-Pacific. That is important for the stability of the businesses the everyday New Zealanders who get up and create jobs and opportunities for other New Zealanders right here and that they have stability and have growth in more export markets going forward.There is a huge business benefit that comes by having more free-trade agreements and more export markets. As I say it creates more jobs and opportunities and in fact for people who may never have had them. It takes a lot of skill and effort and hard work and determination to create a business. I'm proud that we're signing agreements that give those businesses more opportunities to sell their goods and also sell New Zealand on the world stage. It's good for all of us in society.Importantly regional trade agreements help for stability. In particular they help to limit the threats that we may face from other countries—other countries that may in the future seek to wish us harm. It sends us a message: we are part of a block of people who wish to have rules imposed that we all agree with. That is important for our stability but it also sends the message that we're open for business and we welcome opportunities to have more interaction with other countries and I think that's wonderful.So RCEP in particular is about 30 percent of the world's population within the countries of this agreement. That's 2.3 billion people that we can trade with and around 30 percent of the world's GDP. More than half of New Zealand's trade and foreign direct investment flows through the Asia-Pacific so this is a huge agreement. Importantly it provides that framework of rules for stability for jobs and for growth. I commend this bill to the House but I once again just want to say well done on the UK - New Zealand free-trade agreement. Thank you Madam Speaker.