Parker DavidTARIFF (PACER PLUS) AMENDMENT BILLSecond ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for Trade and Export Growth): I rise to take a call on the second reading of the PACER-Plus legislation and I welcome the opportunity to speak in—DEPUTY SPEAKER: I'd appreciate it if you could move it.Hon DAVID PARKER: I move that the motion be put.DEPUTY SPEAKER: No no. If you could move that the Tariff (PACER Plus) Amendment Bill be now read a second time that would be helpful.Hon DAVID PARKER: Thank you for the tolerance of members. I move That the Tariff (PACER Plus) Amendment Bill be now read a second time. DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you.Hon DAVID PARKER: I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of that motion. As members of the House will be aware the global trading environment's becoming very challenging—more and more challenging by the day for small countries small countries like ours and it's especially true for even smaller countries such as those in the Pacific. I think all members in the House would agree that a stable and prosperous Pacific is also a more secure Pacific and that New Zealand has a role to play in achieving that. When the Prime Minister visited Tonga earlier this year it was sobering to be reminded that when Pacific Island countries are hit by a major cyclone it can literally wipe out a third of their gross domestic product—a third. It's an astounding number and of course an effect that big has knock-on effects for the years that follow. This Government's taking steps to rebalance our focus on our support for the Pacific: firstly by taking more steps to mitigate the impacts of climate change; secondly by helping Pacific countries meet their significant adaptation challenges; and thirdly through trade. And of course PACER-Plus has a role to play in boosting the economic resilience of the region through in part trade. At its core PACER-Plus aims to build resilience through expanding trade opportunities boosting investment and facilitating private sector growth to create jobs. As some members will be aware we've recently announced our Trade For All Agenda which looks at how we can use trade policy to contribute to the addressing of global and regional issues of concern and we'll be asking New Zealanders to think about how trade can support sustainable economic development while taking into account the impact on the environment and how we can have inclusive development of the New Zealand economy that supports all New Zealanders and all regions to benefit from trade including women Māori and people in small to medium sized enterprises. In many ways PACER-Plus shows that our Pacific neighbours want to pursue the same kinds of outcomes. They want sustainable economic development and they want as many people as possible to benefit. It's gratifying to see that in the House today there's widespread support for ratifying PACER-Plus and passing the bill. I must say I find it somewhat sad that critics here and abroad are still scaremongering that PACER-Plus is about driving down Pacific Island revenue sources through tariff liberalisation or about New Zealand selling more goods to the Pacific. I believe it's patronising to think that Pacific Island countries couldn't negotiate an agreement of benefit to themselves. It's just wrong to suggest that they would be signing up if they didn't think it was going to benefit them. They signed because they believe it struck the right balance for them—the balance for them between their right to regulate for the public good and incentivising more trade in goods and services for the benefit of their economies. They signed PACER-Plus because they think it strikes the right balance between preserving traditional land tenure and signalling they want to attract more investment. The Pacific reset that the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced earlier also requires a fresh approach to building the deeper partnerships that we want with Pacific Island countries. When we implement PACER-Plus we'll be applying the principles of the reset: understanding friendship mutual benefit collective ambition and sustainability. With its development focus PACER-Plus will help. Through the tools and the financial assistance it provides to partner countries PACER-Plus can help New Zealand address the economic and social outcomes that we want and the challenges that the Pacific region faces.Work is already under way to ensure that when PACER-Plus does enter into force Pacific countries are already positioned to benefit. Customs training is well advanced. Legislative reviews are complete. Work is about to get under way to create a suite of online tools that will increase the ease of doing business in the Pacific. Officials are looking at how we can use existing sustainable economic development programmes to better support PACER-Plus. In addition thanks to the 30 percent in official development assistance—a 30 percent boost to official development assistance; it's worth repeating that—which was announced by Minister Peters in 2018 the portion of New Zealand's aid that goes to trade initiatives can also target new funding.Eight ratifications are needed to bring PACER-Plus into force. It's right that New Zealand is one of the first to ratify as a sign of our genuine and longstanding commitment to the Pacific. In March at an earlier reading I explained to the House why PACER-Plus wasn't typical of our other trade agreements given its focus on the needs and aspirations of our trading partners in the Pacific. So whilst it's not as liberalising as a lot of our trade agreements it still presents some opportunities for New Zealand businesses to boost their own commercial ties into the Pacific while they help boost Pacific productivity. They're going to be developing ventures that will benefit both New Zealand and the Pacific.We do want to encourage more New Zealand investment into the Pacific. We want to see more Māori and New Zealand Pasifika businesses trading in the Pacific region. We've got the opportunity to increase the use of business models and ethics which reflect the common whakapapa that New Zealand shares with the Pacific—business models and ethics that will help Pacific countries chart a development pathway that best suits their values and aspirations.Labour is also a catalyst for economic resilience and the New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme is globally recognised as the best of its kind. It was actually originally introduced by the last Labour Government quite some time ago and it benefits both Pacific countries and New Zealand. New Zealand has the enormous benefit of access to reliable and efficient workers in horticulture and viticulture industries to meet seasonal peaks in demand that we just can't do from New Zealand's labour market but these workers also benefit themselves. They send remittances home they take money home when they leave to return to their country of origin and they also obtain skills which help them contribute to their home economy. I know that New Zealand has an ambition to lift the capability of the Pacific countries who send their people here to work and who return home with new skills. PACER-Plus allows us to go further in helping Pacific Island workers use their time in New Zealand to build up the funds training and contacts that will make them more successful and entrepreneurs when they return home. We've already seen pilot schemes for construction and fisheries successfully roll out and these schemes help fill vacancies when New Zealanders aren't available. There's going to be more discussion of this in the Solomon Islands when a labour mobility conference will be held where all PACER-Plus countries will be present.The Pacific Islands Forum leaders launched PACER-Plus negotiations back in 2009 with the intent of increasing regional economic integration and boosting trade capacity in the region. It hasn't been a straightforward journey. I would like to see all Pacific Islands Forum members join PACER-Plus but we must acknowledge that this is a decision for each country to take and we respect those decisions. The majority of the forum membership has decided to join PACER-Plus because it's in their national interests. We hope others will join too. For now the sooner PACER-Plus enters into force the sooner PACER-Plus can be implemented in a way that realises its potential as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth in the Pacific. I commend this motion to the House.