Donald Rod: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Donald Rod: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:606;Page:3634] 
3.  
ROD DONALD (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister for Trade Negotiations 
: Will the Government give the House the opportunity to debate the offer it intends making under the General Agreement on Trade in Services before it presents it to World Trade Organisation members in March; if not why not? 
Hon JIM SUTTON (Minister for Trade Negotiations) 
: 
 There is no requirement for New Zealand’s initial offer under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to be presented to Parliament as it is only a starting point in the negotiation. It remains entirely conditional and revocable. 
Rod Donald 
: Given that GATS commitments are permanent why has the Government given other parties in Parliament and the public only 25 days to make submissions on the request and offer phase of GATS when it has been consulting with vested-interest groups for over a year? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: The member obviously did not hear what he had been previously told. What is being tabled after 28 days is the initial offer not our GATS commitment. 
Martin Gallagher 
: Can the Minister outline precisely what the New Zealand Government’s position is on its participation in the GATS negotiation? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: The New Zealand Government’s position is set out clearly in the discussion document. Cabinet has agreed to 10 guiding principles for New Zealand’s participation in those negotiations which I will table at the conclusion of the question. I recommend that all members who have not read them do so. In particular I draw members’ attention to the commitment on public health public education water local government and Maori.  
Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith 
: Will the Minister give an assurance that the Government will not do another back-room deal to placate the Greens the way it did with Keith Locke’s International Treaties Bill when in October 2000 the Greens threatened to abstain on the next vote of confidence if the Government continued to ignore its concerns about the free-trade agreement with Singapore? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: My understanding is that that bill was dealt with by Parliament chucking it out. 
Dail Jones 
: Why does the Government refuse to accept such a debate as was set out in the original question which would give the Government an opportunity to refute the views being expressed at the Catching the Knowledge Wave conference indicating that the Government has no strategic plan for the future; are such criticisms so irrefutable that the Government wishes to shy away from them in this House? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: The Government is delighted to debate the principles of its trade policy and will take up suitable opportunities to do that whenever they arise. The fact of the matter is that it would be neither informative nor helpful for the House to have a debate every time another offer is made or received in the course of the World Trade Organization negotiations. We would be doing very little else in this House for the next 2 or 3 years if that were the approach. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Where does the Minister draw the line between the Government’s executive responsibility in terms of pursuing a negotiating process and putting forward proposals etc. and its responsibility to this House also in terms of necessary legislative approvals; and can we expect as we are to see later this afternoon in respect of another measure subsequent legislation to ratify agreements coming before this House? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: The Government has adopted a policy of putting trade treaties before the House for debate before the Government finally commits the nation to them. That practice will be continued. 
Rod Donald 
: Why should we believe the Government’s claim that it is not about to trade away protections for public services under the GATS when it has asked other countries to do exactly what it claims it will not do itself? 
Hon JIM SUTTON 
: There are countries that need to make changes in their policy settings but this country’s policy settings are such that we do not need to make any changes in them in order to comply with our initial offers.