Woodhouse Michael: Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Woodhouse Michael: Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:655;Page:4947] 
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to add my support to the Tariff (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill and the Customs and Excise (AANZFTA) Amendment Bill for the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. That could be one of the longest titles for legislation that I have seen in this House. In particular I endorse the comments of those who spoke earlier today and on previous sitting days about the importance of free-trade agreements to New Zealand’s economy and in particular to our recovery from the present recession. Few in this House would disagree with the importance of the role that our export sectors will play in that recovery. I think that the biggest risk to that export-led recovery is protectionism. Already there is evidence that barriers are being considered or in some cases are already in place that could seriously affect our prospects for that export-led recovery. The best means of managing that serious risk is to put in place free-trade agreements with our trading partners. 
In the ASEAN nations there are already high levels of trade and significant growth even before the implementation of this agreement. New Zealand exports to ASEAN nations have increased by over 120 percent since 2000 to $4.6 billion in 2008. Imports over that same period increased nearly 250 percent to $7.6 billion. But as significant as those numbers are they pale by comparison with the possibilities that a free-trade agreement creates. Those countries—Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Burma the Philippines Singapore Thailand and Viet Nam—have more than half a billion people living in them. They comprise about 10 percent of the world’s population. They are also very much a part of the group of developing countries whose economies are growing at a rapid rate many of them with double-digit GDP growth. Even during this worldwide recession the scale of which we have not seen for nearly 80 years many of those countries still experience strong growth. 
Those who are listening carefully will have noticed that there is quite an imbalance between our exports to those nations and our imports from them. I think this is a good example of what the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have been talking about since the Budget. Those imports have contributed to debt-fuelled increases in consumption that combined with large increases in Government spending have meant as the Prime Minister stated last week that “In recent times the New Zealand economy has flattered to deceive.” The tradable sectors—things like agriculture fisheries manufacturing tourism and forestry—have effectively been in recession for the past 5 years as interest rates exchange rates high taxes and an increasingly complicated regulatory environment have made it more and more difficult to export and those exports have become less and less competitive. 
This Government has embarked on a number of initiatives to improve that export performance. No one of them is a magic bullet as the Opposition appears to think but the free-trade agreements are very much part of those initiatives. It is worth acknowledging that the Labour Opposition also supports free-trade agreements and made good progress on free-trade agreements with China and others and on this free-trade agreement during the term of the previous administration. But it is also worth pointing out that the Association of South-east Asian Nations was founded in 1967. New Zealand became a dialogue partner shortly after that under the Holyoake Government and the dialogue established that was the precursor to this free-trade agreement started as long ago as 1995 or 1996 under the Jim Bolger - led National Government. I am sure the present Government and our hard-working Minister of Trade the Hon Tim Groser will appreciate the continued bipartisan approach to free-trade agreements in the spirit of that shared understanding of the importance of these agreements to the New Zealand economy. 
This agreement will be significant in so far as the outcome of it will be the elimination of tariffs on 99 percent of New Zealand’s current exports to the four key markets within the ASEAN region within 12 years. By any measure that is a pretty speedy response. On full implementation of the agreement it will total savings to New Zealand of $50 million on current trade levels. We can expect those trade levels to significantly increase. There will be improved access to New Zealand markets through the elimination of those tariffs and the possibilities for the agriculture sector as the member for Selwyn pointed out are quite exciting. 
I support the bills and I look forward to their passage in the House. I also look forward to this Government working diligently on a free-trade framework that will result in more agreements in the next wee while. Thank you. 
Bills read a third time.