Nash StuartHon STUART NASH (Minister of Police): Thank you very much Madam Assistant Speaker. Isn't it fantastic the way that Mr Brownlee tends to rewrite history? Well unfortunately the facts get in the way of the sort of subjective nonsense that Mr Brownlee talks about. This actually started out under Phil Goff as the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement. It started out as a Labour initiative under the last Government and I think it's incredibly fitting that our trade negotiations Minister David Parker is going to end up signing it off on behalf of the New Zealand Government because this is where it started Mr Brownlee and you know that.The other thing that really sticks in the craw of Mr Brownlee is that when they were Government they said Can't protect our land. It can't be done. No—not up for negotiation." Well we did it within the first hundred days. Mr Parker sorted it out within the first hundred days and the bottom line is Mr Brownlee talks about 0.5 of 1 percent of all land—well he includes the national parks and all this sort of stuff. The bottom line is—and the thing I really like about the Overseas Investment Act is it talks about the fact that owning land in New Zealand is a privilege. It's a privilege—it is not a right; it's a privilege and we need to protect that privilege. What was happening under that Government was New Zealanders were shut out of their own country and that is wrong. In fact Mr Peters needs to take a lot of credit for this. He pushed back against the excesses of global capitalism and it has been noted—it has been noted.Like every Labour Government that comes in we are the Government of sort of economic and social evolution revolution—these guys come in and slowly manage it down and then it takes a Labour Government and yet again we change the way things are done for the betterment of the New Zealand economy and the New Zealand people. This is what this is about.Now one thing I will agree with Mr Brownlee on—and I know this is surprising—is we are a trading nation. We know this. We're a country of 4.8 million people. If we're going to grow if we're going to create sustainable wealth and well-being for our citizens for our companies and for our country we need to trade. We've always needed to trade and we've always recognised this. In fact it was Phil Goff who signed the first free-trade agreement with China and it's worked incredibly well for us.But the thing about New Zealand is we are viewed overseas as a country of principle—we really are. I've just been to Mexico last week. They look up to us because we do things well. Yet again I believe just last week we have been named the most transparent country in the world. Now you don't get that by being lucky; you get that by being principled and doing things incredibly well. So while we are a trading nation while this started out under Phil Goff we believe under the terms that were being negotiated by that Government we were actually compromising our principles to the point where we just couldn't go there.So what happened is Mr Parker took it over and once again our principles came to the fore and with these 22 changes these 22 change clauses—it's not many Mr Brownlee; I'll admit that but they're the really important ones that define New Zealand as a country—the really important ones.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Tell us about five of them.Hon STUART NASH: I'll tell you about them—I'll tell you about them. Let me tell you about investor-State dispute settlement clauses (ISDS): we wanted these removed actually. In fact they're a little bit of an anachronism these days and if you read the international literature on these there's a growing voice of concern about how these are being implemented and the reason for that is they're done behind closed doors no one can see the rulings there is inconsistency and it does take away the sovereign right.We all know the case that causes a whole lot of problems and that is Philip Morris suing the Government of Australia—and they lost. They went through the whole court system—in fact Philip Morris moved its headquarters from Australia to Hong Kong where they had ISDS clauses. They went through the whole Australian court system and they lost so they took it to arbitration—ISDS. What the literature is now saying is Philip Morris knew they were going to lose this but it gave them two more years. It gave them two more years to do what they felt they needed to do and that is wrong.That is why Mr Parker has worked incredibly hard to actually ensure that we are not going to be sued when we make important decisions that affect the health and well-being of our countries. That is why Mr Parker has worked incredibly hard to have side letters with a lot of countries to ensure that this is very very narrow in its scope. I suspect that if not in the next trade agreement then in the one after ISDS clauses will be removed—actually from probably all global investment and trade deals—because people recognise there are better ways to do this—there are better ways to do this. But we have certainly mitigated the worst excesses of ISDS and that Government had not done that in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). We have in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and I think that is a major win. It's one of the main reasons why I stand up and I support the agreement as it stands and one of the main reasons I had major reservations for it how it was being negotiated under that Government.The sovereignty issues—we can make our own decisions in the best interests of Kiwis which is what it has got to be about Mr Brownlee.Hon Gerry Brownlee: Always good.Hon STUART NASH: It's fantastic isn't it? Now let's talk about Pharmac—let's talk about Pharmac. Maurice Williamson set up Pharmac—am I right in saying that? I'm not too sure but it is a fantastic thing. It is a really good model and it actually saves us from some of the excesses that are going on in the States at the moment. You go to the United States and what they have on all the TV ads—"If you've got indigestion or if you've got heartburn or diabetes recommend this drug to your doctor." and then at the end of that it says "If you're suffering from hypertension or liver disease or anything like this then be very careful." The bottom line is our doctors are not subject to the worst excesses of the pharmaceutical industry that exist in a lot of places.Well this agreement protects Pharmac—it protects Pharmac—and I think that is absolutely vital. This may be a bit of a long bow but it may actually save us from some of the excess that we're seeing in fentanyl and that sort of thing at the moment because we haven't got big pharma in here really screwing things down and acting in a way that is not in the best interests of Kiwis. Implementing these changes was expected to cost New Zealand an initial $4.5 million and $2.2 million per year thereafter with Pharmac. These costs are eliminated under the CPTPP. Congratulations Mr Parker. Well done on that one.Now the thing is around 8500 New Zealanders are employed for every billion dollars of exports. But we need to grow this. We need to get better at the way we do this. And as Minister for Small Business one of the things that I'm going to be looking at is how we use this agreement to increase the percentage of GDP of the small-business sector to our country and how we can use these agreements with these countries to actually export a hell of a lot more and engage in a way that we haven't done in the past. And it's not just goods. Mr Brownlee you were dead right. Services are becoming a really important part of our economy and what we can offer overseas. These are things that can't be replicated in the back streets of Mumbai or the office blocks of Shanghai.Hon David Parker: Xero.Hon STUART NASH: Xero. These are the things that provide us with a real competitive advantage. When I say that when we go overseas and we are held up—no not held up; we are acknowledged as the most transparent country in the world. When we are acknowledged as the best place to do business in the world people look at New Zealand and go "How do you do it as a country of 4.8 million people? We want to work with you guys because we know you're not corrupt. We know you do things well. You bat above your weight."This will help us achieve our goals in a way that we couldn't beforehand. This is a really important agreement in a way that will help us grow our economy and the wealth and well-being and the jobs of our communities and our economy. But it wasn't an agreement based on the fundamental principles that guide us before; the way that Mr Parker has taken this and modified the really important clauses it now is. Now it's not perfect. It is not perfect but we all know in every single negotiation you give a little to get a little—you give a little to get a little—but what we are told in the national interest analysis is it will boost the size of our economy by up to 1 percent of GDP. Now that's a significant amount of money. And what I expect to see is that in fact that will increase. I think this is conservative. And seeing what I've seen hearing what I'm hearing it is opening up markets that in the past just haven't really been in the view of New Zealand exporters; they are now.This is an important agreement. I congratulate Mr Parker and I congratulate the Rt Hon Winston Peters in the way they've taken something that was not really aligned to our principles and brought it up from the TPP to the CPTPP. Congratulations. Onwards and upwards. Thank goodness it is Labour that's going to sign this agreement. Thank you very much."