Boscawen John: Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Boscawen John: Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:664;Page:12122] 
JOHN BOSCAWEN (ACT) 
: 
 I did not take the ACT call in the normal order when the Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill came up late last night but I will do so now. I have listened with interest to the debate over the last half hour or so and it is interesting that Grant Robertson concluded his speech by saying that free trade is not the be-all and end-all of raising economic aspirations but that it is a very important part. I agree with him. 
I was particularly interested to hear the contribution of Rahui Katene this morning. She talked about the competing concerns within the Maori Party caucus. She talked about the fact that when this bill is enacted it will reduce the tariffs that apply to imports from Malaysia and it will introduce greater competition for products manufactured in New Zealand. However the benefit of course is that it will reduce the price of products and goods purchased from Malaysia and as such it will raise the living standards of New Zealanders. If New Zealanders can buy those same products cheaper then their money and their spending power goes further. As Rahui Katene said it enables the Maori iwi Maori interests to leverage their assets to look for trading opportunities in Malaysia to export products into Malaysia and also to build on Maori development and Maori employment. 
Then the debate became quite wide ranging. Chris Tremain used the opportunity to outline the six key planks that the National Party stood on in the last election campaign. In particular he focused on the growth of Zespri. Jacinda Ardern then took the opportunity to speak about the Labour Party’s policy in respect of monetary policy and she suggested that the Government should be looking beyond simply facilitating free-trade agreements. 
But the contribution that interested me the most was Mr Cam Calder’s contribution. Cam Calder made the point that 70 percent of what this country sells is sold to Asia—70 percent of what we sell. Asia is our future; Asia is where we are marketing our products. I think that is a very important issue. 
Jacinda Ardern talked about four headlines. She talked about the four headlines that New Zealand had achieved on the international stage in the last couple of months. We will make another headline and it will come on 1 July. It will have a huge impact on the welfare of New Zealanders and our exporters. I refer of course to the emissions trading scheme. 
On 1 July we will introduce the most comprehensive emissions trading scheme in the world. We will introduce the first emissions trading scheme outside Europe and it will be the most comprehensive scheme. How do I know that? I listened with interest to the speech of the Hon Dr Nick Smith the Minister for Climate Change Issues when he spoke in the first reading debate of the National Government’s amendment bill. What did Dr Smith say? On 24 September last year—not 5 years ago when Dr Smith was in the Opposition but 6 months ago when he was the Minister for Climate Change Issues—he said that this emissions trading scheme would be the first for any country outside Europe and that on 1 July 2010 it would become the most comprehensive scheme by including transport industry and energy emissions. To all of the New Zealanders who listened to Dr Smith when he was travelling up and down the country trying to minimise the damage that this emissions trading scheme will do to New Zealand exporters and New Zealanders I repeat that Dr Smith told this House on 24 September last year that it will become the most comprehensive scheme by including transport industry and energy emissions. 
I will bring it back to the issue of our free-trade agreement with Malaysia and to Cam Calder’s comment that 70 percent of what we sell we sell to Asia. Dr Smith is very fond of saying that 29 of the 38 developed countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol—the annex 1 countries—have an emissions trading scheme. The countries that Dr Smith refers to are the countries of the European Union plus Norway and Switzerland. Eighty percent of what those countries sell is sold to themselves—80 percent of their exports are to other countries within Europe. Only 20 percent of their exports leave Europe. If we contrast that with our situation we see that we sell 15 percent of our exports to Europe so by definition we sell 85 percent to countries outside Europe. 
By Dr Smith’s acknowledgment we are selling 85 percent of our exports to countries that do not have an emissions trading scheme. As Mr Cam Calder reminded the House this morning of that 85 percent of exports 70 percent goes to Asia. Seventy percent of what New Zealand exporters are selling goes to countries that do not have the extra cost of an emissions trading scheme—85 percent in all. For the National Government to go up and down the country trying to convince New Zealanders that the emissions trading scheme is good for our exporters is an absolute disgrace. Europe has exposed 20 percent of its exports outside Europe and is competing with countries that do not have that cost but we are exposing more than four times that number of exports. 
Trade is very important. The ACT Party probably more than any other party in this House is concerned about the need to raise New Zealanders’ prosperity and is interested in implementing policies that will do something about that. 
I noticed Rahui Katene commented that she was concerned about the impact of the free-trade agreement on workers’ conditions and wages and in particular on unemployment among young Maori and I dare say among young Polynesians and all other young people. We had a chance to do something about that earlier this year. The House could have supported the legislation of my colleague Sir Roger Douglas on youth wages that would have given 16 and 17-year-olds the chance to gain employment by being employed on less than the minimum wage. What choice would an employer make between a young 35-year-old who possibly has a wife or a husband and two young children and who needs reliable employment and a 16-year-old? I suspect that if an employer had to make a choice between a 35-year-old with commitments and a young person the employer would choose the more mature person all the time. Young people are being denied the chance to get employment. 
The ACT Party will be supporting this bill. We support free trade. We support the opportunities that it gives our exporters and businesses. We support having the opportunity to try to raise New Zealand’s prosperity and living standards. Only by creating employment and investment will we create a more prosperous country. 
If Jacinda Ardern is concerned about world headlines then I suggest that all the parliamentarians in this Parliament should hang their head in shame. On 1 July we have an emissions trading scheme—I think Mr Groser is laughing. I invite Mr Groser to explain how he thinks it can be good for those who sell 85 percent of our exports to be exposed to trading with countries that do not have the extra cost of an emissions trading scheme. 
Mr Groser may not think that is important but Meat and Wool New Zealand has stated that the cost for the average dairy farmer from 1 July this year will be $3900. Those farmers will pay that. That is 3c a kilogram on milk fat. It is $75 a week for the average dairy farmer. It is about $35 a week for the average beef and sheep farmer. Parliamentarians in this Parliament may like to laugh about that but if we are really concerned about raising New Zealand’s prosperity our livelihoods and our incomes then we need to be doing a lot more than trying to penalise exporters in the way that the emissions trading scheme will do. Thank you.