Yates Dianne: Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Yates Dianne: Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:630;Page:2152] 
DIANNE YATES (Labour) 
: 
 I am sure that the member opposite will be relieved to know that this is the last time he will be called upon to make a speech on this particular legislation. But he is relatively new to the House and I am sure that he realises how wonderfully democratic it is that we have had to listen to him say much the same thing at least five times. 
The treaty-making process is a very interesting process and we have almost come to the final stage which is the implementation of the law that will allow the process to finally happen and the treaty to be signed. As we have noted the bill started off with discussions in Chile which the Prime Minister was engaged in talking about the possibility of an agreement. Then a paper prepared by the ministry was widely touted round New Zealand so that there could be a great deal of public input as we have mentioned from stakeholders such as chambers of commerce businesses and various interest groups. I thank the members opposite who were employed by the ministry at that stage for the work that they have done on the agreement in that regard and for the negotiations they have been involved in. 
Once all that process had been gone through including the external negotiations the national interest analysis was tabled in the House and was sent to the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee. The select committee then had another look and was able to call for submissions from the public. So the public were given another chance to have an input. There were submissions on the national interest analysis. The select committee looked at them considered the issues were briefed by the ministry staff and then reported back to the House. 
Following that process there must then be legislation that allows the agreement to go ahead. So what we have here is a very small bill—just two pages—called the Tariff (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership) Amendment Bill. It amends the Tariff Act 1988 to enable the treaty to come into force and to be signed by the parties involved which are Brunei Darussalam Chile New Zealand and Singapore. What we are talking about now is the legislation that allows for the signing of and commitment to the agreement by New Zealand. As has been mentioned by the Hon Jim Sutton who was very much involved with the actual negotiations it is the first multiparty trade agreement linking Asia the Pacific and Latin America. For that reason alone it is significant. 
I also thank the Hon Phil Goff the Hon Annette King for the contribution she made yesterday on this particular bill the officials those who worked very hard at the negotiating stage and the members of the select committee. I am sure that the new members have found it very interesting to follow the process through from their former lives during the negotiating stages to actually seeing what happens in the House. Although I think one of the members is getting a little tired of repeating his speeches and comments it is important that the democratic process be gone through and the full consultation be carried out. 
As we have seen the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement allows 90 percent of New Zealand’s exports to Chile and 92 percent of New Zealand’s exports to Brunei Darussalam to be duty-free. As has been mentioned we already had an agreement with Singapore and the bill has extended that agreement. Of course we look to extending agreements in the future even further. 
I have mentioned the role of the Prime Minister Helen Clark the Prime Minister of Singapore and the President of Chile in coming together and working with representatives from Brunei Darussalam to bring the agreement about. We have already noted that it is important in terms of New Zealand trade. It is important in terms of the fact that it is an agreement within the WTO Doha round that although on the one hand we are working on the bigger picture on the other hand we are also able to speed up the process with agreements between countries within that. The Hon Jim Sutton pointed that out during his speech. So once again I thank everybody who has been involved and we look forward to 1 May for the final signing of the treaty.