Tirikatene RinoHon RINO TIRIKATENE (Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth): Tēnā koe e te Māngai o te Whare. Tēnā koutou e te Whare tēnā koutou i te āwhā nui i pā ki a Aotearoa i ngā wiki tata nei. E mihi ana ki te hunga e noho ana i te Tairāwhiti te puku o te whenua Tāmaki Makaurau te Tairāwhiti me ō rātou pakeketanga i tēnei wā.Haere e ngā mate haere ki te kāinga tūturu o te tangata. Ka hoki mai ki a tātou te kanohi ora e pae nei tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā tātou katoa.[Greetings Madam Speaker. Greetings to everyone in the House and greetings to all those in the big storms that have impacted Aotearoa in the last few weeks. I acknowledge those living in the East Coast the centre of the North Island Auckland and the East Coast with their associated trials at this time.To the dead return to the original home of people. To return us all the living who sit here greetings greetings greetings one and all.]I'm delighted to speak in support—wholehearted tautoko—of our Prime Minister's statement that was delivered in very challenging times at the start of this year. But I'm really delighted to be on the team of Prime Minister Hipkins. I'm really thrilled to have extra responsibilities—elevated to the Ministers ranks—and look we are a new team. We have got a new Prime Minister we've got a new focus and this is a new direction. It's a wonderful statement that we've giving outlining the mahi that we want to continue with the ongoing mahi—Hon Gerry Brownlee: The other way was no good?Hon RINO TIRIKATENE: Taihoa Mr Brownlee taihoa—taihoa. Your chance might come later. We are committed to the mahi that we have ahead and there is a lot of mahi that we have under way which has been outlined very clearly by our Prime Minister. It's about getting back to the basics. It is about those bread and butter issues: the cost of living strengthening our communities and our infrastructure.A case in point: as I mentioned in my mihi at the start I want to acknowledge the terrible devastation that has been inflicted on the communities in the North particularly the Hawke's Bay Te Tai Rāwhiti and also up into Tai Tokerau and Tāmaki-makau-rau from Cyclone Hale and Cyclone Gabrielle. In Te Wai Pounamu we've been fortunate—we've been spared by Tāwhirimātea—but we have lots of whānau connections. They're all our whanaunga up in the North and I want to just acknowledge all of the first responders everyone the communities New Zealanders at large Aotearoa whānui who have been rallying and providing their awhi and support and hard work—just boots on the ground—that is needed. I particularly want to acknowledge our marae many of which I grew up around when I was young. I think of Ōmahu. I think of Mōteo. I think just going around up the way to Waiōhiki. I think of Mōhaka which has been cut off. I think of all of those communities and I want to acknowledge the work that our marae have done and are continuing to play in the recovery. I want to acknowledge our tuāhine and all local members that have been rallying and giving so much on-the-ground support for our families.Not only that we as a Government have been right there backing up our affected regions and as has been stated by the Prime Minister we will continue to stand by these communities as well. I'm delighted that we have given $55 million to our farmers and growers for the immediate clean up and recovery $17 million of which has been drawn down. I'm delighted that we've had $15 million go directly into our Māori marae and across our Māori communities specifically focused on the big job that they have ahead. We have been working very closely with our affected communities and that is the hallmark of what we do as a Government. We are a caring Government and we care about those communities and we stand by them and we have followed it up. There will be many more announcements to come and much more mahi to do over the coming weeks and months as we help them rebuild.I'm so excited really because our Prime Minister's statement outlined so many wonderful things that we're doing as a Government. I'm now really proud that in my role—I want to talk about the importance of trade which is a bread and butter issue which our Prime Minister has as a key area of focus in our job ahead and in the months to follow. Trade is so important for Aotearoa. It's important for the Māori economy. Our wealth as a nation is built upon us trading and that has always been the case and it will continue to be the case. It's so important that we connect with the outside world—that we have free-trade agreements (FTA) in place—that we can sell our wonderful goods and services and products to the markets of the world so we can earn foreign exchange dollars and increase our wealth and standard of living. I'm delighted as the Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth—associate trade role—to be working with Minister O'Connor on deepening and growing our trade architecture and strengthening it so that we can get greater goods market access make more money through having reduced or no tariffs so we get more returns back to our hard-working exporters.In addition to that it's about positioning Aotearoa in the global community and in regional groups. That is so important for us as a relatively small nation here in the South Pacific. I'm delighted we've made some significant trade policy outcomes that have been achieved just in the last year alone. We have completed and signed the UK FTA which is a significant agreement. It opens up a massive market into the UK. We also followed that up with the EU FTA. These are massive markets which offer great potential but also immediate benefit: 99.5 percent of our goods that go into the UK market will immediately benefit from having no tariffs upon the entering of that agreement. We're just waiting on the UK Parliament to finish off their formalities and then those benefits will immediately accrue to the New Zealand export sector. Likewise with the EU FTA 91 percent of tariffs will be removed immediately upon that agreement coming into force.These free-trade agreements are not only important commercially for goods access but as I've said they're very important to progress and to position Aotearoa on really important global and regional issues: trade and sustainability development provisions. Case in point: yesterday Aotearoa hosted the first ever French Pacific Business Forum up in Auckland and we had the French Minister delegate Becht attend that with French Polynesia Tahiti Wallis and Futuna and also New Caledonia. There is great I guess excitement and anticipation from major nations such as France at the work that we are doing in the Pacific around the creation of these trade and sustainable development provisions through the FTA. The EU has agreed to climate change targets recognition of compliance with the Paris Agreement environmental provisions provisions around small business around women around Māori through our Māori trade and economic chapters. These are real fantastic innovations that we are doing to ensure that not only are we getting greater goods access for Aotearoa but we are also having those wider benefits of ensuring that our Trade For All agenda is actually being fulfilled. Trade For All is all about ensuring that the trade that we do as a nation reaches out to all communities and all who rely on trade because it is such a vital earner for our nation.I'm very proud of the work that we are doing as a Government. I'm only on the first portfolio and I don't really have much time left! So I'll go back to trade—Hon Gerry Brownlee: It's amazing how much you've done in three weeks!Hon RINO TIRIKATENE: A lot of work Mr Brownlee. A lot of mahi—a lot of mahi. In fact we are hosting the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Ministers this year—a major major trade bloc. We have the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership—that is 30 percent of the world's trade that is captured and we are at the heart of that trade architecture. These are really significant trade agreements. New Zealand is leading the way. I want to acknowledge our officials and our fantastic teams in te Manatū Aorere for the work that they do because the benefits are flowing thanks to a Government that really supports and backs trade backs our exporters and backs our communities to ensure that we can raise our living standards and have a brighter future. Nō reira tēnā koutou tēnā tātou. I tautoko the Prime Minister's statement. Kia ora.