Williams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 04 December 2012. Volume:686;Page:6993. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
2. 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Trade 
: Does he stand by his statement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership that “It’s going to be big. It’s going to be significant and it’s going to help New Zealanders find well-paid jobs”; if so on what evidence does he base this claim? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Is some Minister going to answer the question? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Deputy Prime Minister) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Trade: Yes he stands by that statement. If concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership will be New Zealand’s largest free-trade area. It includes four of our top 10 trading partners it is home to 650 million consumers and it represents US$21 trillion of the global economy. Collectively the group takes nearly 40 percent of New Zealand exports and of course it includes the US with which a free-trade agreement has long been a top foreign policy priority for successive New Zealand Governments. 
Andrew Williams 
: How can he reconcile the necessity for secrecy regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership yet at the same time make claims that the agreement will provide jobs for New Zealanders? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: Well it is hardly a secret that there are negotiations. I think there are 500 people from—how many countries— 
Rt Hon John Key 
: 11. 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: —11 countries turning up in Auckland and it seems to be pretty well-known. The fact is we think a free-trade agreement would be a good idea. We are willing to conduct the reasonable process of negotiation in good faith with our negotiating partners to achieve that agreement. We understand Opposition parties are opposed to the jobs that would flow from a free-trade agreement. That is their policy position; it is not ours. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Will he have as a negotiation bottom line the protection of existing New Zealand intellectual property law and will he ensure that New Zealand’s position is not simply the adoption of the intellectual property laws of the United States of America? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: That issue along with a number of others I am sure will be a matter of pretty intensive negotiation because it is pretty clear that the parties are negotiating from different starting positions. 
Andrew Williams 
: Are there any specific aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that could erode or limit New Zealand’s sovereignty; if so what are they? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No not in an unacceptable way. The fact is that when we are doing agreements with other countries both we and they often have to give up some aspect of their policy that they did think was important but they give it up in order to achieve the larger benefits of free trade. So this is a process that is not without compromise but it certainly will not be a compromise on our sovereignty. 
Andrew Williams 
: How will the Trans-Pacific Partnership affect the Overseas Investment Act in regard to prohibiting performance requirements and industry incentives for the film industry? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I am not sure whether particularly that second statement is correct but the Government is not planning any changes to the Overseas Investment Act. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Will he have as a negotiation bottom line and can he give us an assurance that there will be no erosion of Pharmac’s position in New Zealand in respect of medical drug purchase and distribution? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: The Government’s approach will be articulated in precise terms through the negotiation but we share with the previous Government a strong desire to maintain the effectiveness and the independence of Pharmac. 
Andrew Williams 
: Is the Minister saying that the film industry will be totally unaffected and that current industry subsidies will not be affected by the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: I would not want to prejudge the way the negotiations would go over the next 12 months or so but the process does allow for the kinds of arrangements that the New Zealand Government applies to the New Zealand film industry. 
Andrew Williams 
: Will the Minister assure the House that this Government will not sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement unless the US removes subsidies from its agricultural sector? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: It is certainly a long-term aim of the New Zealand Government to see those agricultural subsidies eliminated. The same discussion has been going on for 50 years with the European Union and at different times we have made progress. So it is very important in this negotiation that we see progress but again in the spirit of good faith with our negotiation partners I would not want to pre-empt the result of it.