Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Peters Winston: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 28 November 2012. Volume:686;Page:6850. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: What advice has he received about a new agreement between the New Zealand Government and China Southern Airlines in respect of visa processing? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) 
: 
 I have received advice that this agreement will streamline and facilitate travel by high-value low-risk Chinese visitors. Visitors from China are growing by 30 to 40 percent a year with 215000 forecast in 2012 alone. We need to tap into the opportunities presented by our fastest-growing visitor market and this includes making border processing easier for some of our most valuable visitors. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why is the Government lowering entry requirements for Chinese nationals when the Chinese Government requires New Zealanders wanting a visa to China to provide evidence of income and a letter from their future employer in China none of which is required in the arrangement that he has just agreed to? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: That is because the proposal that is in place for China Southern Airlines and will be in place for other airlines like Air New Zealand as well is fundamentally suited to the New Zealand conditions. It is consistent with the Approved Destination Status scheme which we already have in operation. In principle the only real difference that is required is that the person does not have to deliver a note from their employer or show their wealth and that is because they will have travelled 40000 kilometres with China Southern Airlines and on that basis one can assume that they are a reasonably high net worth individual. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why did the Government decide to relax visa applications for China Southern Airlines’ frequent flyers some of whom can fly out and return with China Southern Airlines for $400 when China Southern Airlines accounts for less than 15 percent of visitor arrivals from China? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: For a couple of reasons. Firstly the member is right that they account for less than 15 percent but what he is not right about or may not know is that the significant growth that has been happening in recent times from China can be attributed to China Southern Airlines’ presence. Secondly the member may or may not know that 70 million Chinese visitors are expected to travel abroad this year that that number is expected to grow to 100 million within a couple of years and that New Zealand is looking to have about 425000 Chinese visitors come to New Zealand by 2018. So why would a country that has tourism as one of the important parts of its economy not want to attract these sorts of visitors from China? 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: How could Skycity Casino China Southern Airlines and Auckland Airport all be boasting before June 2012 of special fast-track visa procedures when he allowed his Minister of Immigration to claim in this House that the Government department that he is a head of was not involved at that time? How did that happen? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: You would have to put the direct part of that question to others who are involved. All I can say is that in the early or mid part of 2012 as a result of a trip to China there was a request made by China Southern Airlines. Work began on that work by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. About 4 September it noted to my office that there was a programme under development and I was formally advised that it had gone live some time just after 1 November. I am hugely supportive of what is going on. It is consistent with the programme that is in Australia. 
Michael Woodhouse 
: What else is the Government doing to attract Chinese visitors to New Zealand? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: We are being very innovative when it comes to China. Tourism New Zealand has been working with Chinese superstar Yao Chen as a brand ambassador for New Zealand. She is actually going to be on the red carpet with David Shearer this afternoon at the  
Hobbit 
 premiere. She was married in Queenstown last week. [ 
Interruption 
] No she will not be physically with him in that sense. This was the highest-trending topic for days in Chinese social media. We know that Chinese people are very interested in New Zealand and we need to translate that interest into even higher visitor numbers. That will provide jobs for New Zealanders and I think it is something that should be supported. 
Rt Hon Winston Peters 
: Why on earth when you have got other airlines such as Air New Zealand bringing far more Chinese people to New Zealand along with other airlines that are not from southern China would this special deal be arranged with China Southern Airlines when it at that point in time and contrary to what he just said brought so few Chinese in percentage terms to this country? 
Rt Hon JOHN KEY 
: Let us run through the facts because I deal in the facts. Just dealing with the facts most of the growth has been occurring with China Southern Airlines. It is not a deal unique to China Southern Airlines; it is consistent with the approved destination status that is already in place. And by the way it is consistent with a similar scheme that has been in place with Australia and by the way the sky did not cave in over there either.