Goldsmith Paul; Rurawhe AdrianHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. It is quite something to be able to follow a New Zealand First speaker in favour of a trade agreement. It's wonderful that that party is seeing the value of trade and of having the ability to gather greater prosperity for all countries through the benefit of trade.So the National Party of course stands to support this trade bill which was of course started off by the Hon Todd McClay as Minister of Trade back in 2017. The purpose of it as we know is to legislate for a trade agreement signed between these 11 Pacific Island countries including Australia and New Zealand in the hope of lowering barriers not just in the tariff level but also by reducing bureaucratic instruments and rules covering goods and services that get in the way of the free flow of trade. And it's important for New Zealand in the broader Trans-Pacific Partnership right across the world but it's also important in our local region here in the Pacific. That's why we stand fair and square behind reducing barriers to trade and doing it in an effective way.But of course our commitment on the National Party side to expanding our access to export markets and reducing barriers to trade has been part of a broader economic development strategy that we worked on consistently throughout nine years in power—the Business Growth Agenda it was. Expanding export markets was one of the steps that we took in order to deliver a more competitive and productive economy. And there were other planks to that that we focused on: increasing the flow of investment access to natural resources access to good quality infrastructure such as ultra-fast broadband access for businesses to trade in skilled environments and also access to a knowledge and innovation framework. That was our broader economic development and where our trade policy fitted into. One of the criticisms that I've been making against this administration which has now been in power for getting close to a year is that we haven't had much clarity at all about the broader economic development strategy that's guiding this Government. We haven't seen anything really at all to replace the Business Growth Agenda—Hon David Parker: The laundry list.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: —other than flummery from the Minister who has chipped in—in regard to the Provincial Growth Fund and R & D tax credits and the most important factor of all which is the solution to every problem: the capital gains tax. And time will tell. But we did see last week the announcement of the Government's economic development strategy which the Prime Minister announced and that was to take the growth" out of the Business Growth Agenda and call it the business transformation agenda. I suppose the point that I would make in relation to that was the absence of any great detail about how this Government is going to go about improving our productivity.One area where there is strong overlap on both sides of the House is agreement around the importance of trade deals and expanding our export markets through the development of rigorous trade relationships. And that's why when people say "Oh politicians why can't you all get along and work together constructively for the benefit of New Zealand?" well this is one of the areas where indeed we do. And that's why we stand here—Tim van de Molen: Except for the Greens.Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH: Well aside from the Greens. But yes they're an interesting case. But we do that because most of us understand the importance for a small trading nation such as New Zealand that only makes its living in a world by exporting its goods—and the extent to which we can reduce barriers so that we can trade more effectively has got to be good for this country. There's been disagreements about all sorts of things over the years and New Zealand First has waxed and waned like the horses and the hounds—and the very nature of Shane Jones's oratory is all over the place so you would expect that party to be a little bit inconsistent in its support for free trade. But it's nice today to see them in support of this particular bill. But traditionally both National and the Labour Party have seen the value of these trades. So when we just get down to some of the details of this legislation I should note that it includes our good friends across the Tasman but also the Cook Islands Kiribati Nauru Niue Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu and Vanuatu and the door remains open for other Pacific Island countries who could join this agreement. It will enter into force once all the negotiating parties have passed the legislation. It is worth noting—and it may be a surprise to some people tuning in listening to this broadcast—that New Zealand exports around $376 million of goods a year to the countries excluding Australia which of course we export many billions of dollars to on average.The tariffs on New Zealand exports will be reduced over extended time frames between 25 and 35 years but on average we face tariffs of about 7 percent. So there's an opportunity for New Zealand to export more to the region but also equally very much the opportunity for those countries to continue to gain great access to the New Zealand environment. It's not so much because we have very low tariffs in this country in very few areas—so that's not the real issue. It's about getting consistency around the trading rules in relation to goods services and investment that will make the real difference here.So overall I have no doubt that this is a small but not at all insignificant piece in the jigsaw of what we hope will be a successful South Pacific region because it is fair to say that this is a region that isn't really going as well as it could economically. Many of these countries who are listed here haven't been able to provide a strong economy so far for their citizens. From a New Zealand perspective given our close relationships not just economically but socially and culturally we all want to see places like Tonga and Samoa and Niue prosper and do well and to provide opportunities for them and their families and their people. There is no magic to it. It's about generating goods that the rest of the world wants to buy at a good price so that they can make an honest living.As small countries—as New Zealanders experience but they experience even more—with that lack of scale it is very easy for the rest of the world. It is hard to compete internationally and any barriers whether it be tariffs or just rules and regulations that make it difficult for trading to go ahead compound the difficulty of having such a small base with which to start. So exporters coming out of Tonga or Vanuatu for example—and I think of the magnificent coffee that comes out of Vanuatu which I have enjoyed on many occasions for example—their lack of scale in the domestic market means that if they want to get any size they have to export very quickly and face all the difficulties that go with exporting.So in conclusion I suppose the point I would make is it's wonderful to see support across the House with the exception of the Greens—is it?—who are deeply ambivalent to the nature of growth. I suppose just looking at our two friends from that party across the House I would encourage them to reconsider their position and to give serious thought to whether or not they are genuine in their desire for this region to get ahead economically and to create opportunities for the next generation. I suppose the question is if you're not in favour of this are you ever in favour of any sort of trade liberalisation and clearly they're not. But putting the Greens to one side—and maybe there is time for reflection on their part but putting them to one side—I welcome the New Zealand First entrance into the fold in favour of trade where they are a little bit higgledy-piggledy in their thinking but between the major parties of this Parliament I think this is a good day and a real opportunity for us—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Adrian Rurawhe): Order! The member's time has expired."