McClay Todd: ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Bill — In Committee 
McClay Todd: ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:655;Page:4683] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 I would like to set the scene of Part 1 by going through some of the background to how we got here today. Today is an exciting day and the bill is a very important and exciting one for New Zealand. Anything that does more for our trade is important. A previous speaker from the other side of the Chamber Maryan Street suggested that the acting Minister should be showing a bit more excitement when it comes to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. From where I was sitting the acting Minister could hardly control himself. In his electorate as in my electorate there are many excellent dairy farmers. They will benefit directly from this bill because from the moment the agreement enters into force there will be some $50 million worth of savings for the dairy industry for exports to the ASEAN countries. The reduction in tariff rates is a great thing for dairy farmers. The acting Minister is well aware of the importance of this agreement to rural parts of New Zealand. In rural areas excitement is often understated but the smile on the acting Minister’s face suggests that he realises how important this bill will be for his farming community. 
This is a very important day. I pay tribute to the many people who were involved in moving us to this point. We have heard about Minister Tim Groser and the Hon Phil Goff when he was Minister and of course Minister Sutton. I will use the free-trade agreement as an analogy with a rugby game. All three of the people I mentioned have played a part. The Hon Jim Sutton when he was Minister was late to the game of rugby and therefore had to rush. At half-time Phil Goff as Minister had a little discussion with him and said “I think we’d better do a bit more work here. It’s not looking good. I don’t know how much longer we’ll have our jobs.” Minister Groser of course is the man who has kicked the ball between the posts and scored the winning points for New Zealand. Indeed Mr Nash made mention of this. 
Some of the changes in Part 1 are around rules for intellectual property. I say to Stuart Nash that I am not sure the part of the bill that looks at intellectual property applies to him. He suggested that the next elected Prime Minister of this country would be Phil Goff. There is not a lot of intellectual anything in that statement. It is important to recognise that all three of those people as Ministers played an important part in what is very important legislation and a great agreement for New Zealand. I pay tribute to former Minister Sutton previous Minister Goff and now Tim Groser who has a lot more work to do in this area. 
I will also talk a little bit about the officials. I have had the duty—I would like to say I have had the pleasure—to attend many trade negotiations over many years. They are not as much fun as they sound and certainly not as enjoyable as a 5-minute speech in this House. The officials directed by their Ministers do the day in day out work in the discussions. It is the detail that they put in and their hard work that gets us to where we are today. 
Part 1 in particular looks at preferential tariff rates and sets up changes to the Tariff Act. It is important that preferential tariffs can be applied because not all countries we trade with have the same tariff rates applied to them at the same time. Indeed when we look at the substantial increase in New Zealand’s export trade to these countries we see that there has been a 121 percent increase—from memory—over 9 years and over the same 9 years there has been a 244 percent increase in goods exported from Asian countries to New Zealand. For goods being exported to those countries the tariff rates and the elimination of barriers will not be lifted to the same degree at the same time in all countries. But by 2020 over the next 12 years our access will be much better. 
When we look at some of the detail around preferential trade access and changes to it we see there will be significant benefits to New Zealand businesses. I will focus for a moment on the agricultural industry. The debate on this very issue last night was interesting. I remember the many submissions we received from people in the agricultural sector and traders of primary products as a whole that without exception fully supported the bill and asked us to get it in force quickly because they know they can benefit from it quickly. I remember a member on this side of the Chamber suggested that compared with the Opposition National predominantly represents the agricultural sector of New Zealand. I did a little bit of work when I got back to my office and found that with the exception of the odd farmer in Queen Street and down in Christchurch where cows occasionally run around the airport the people who have an interest in the agricultural sector are represented by members on this side of the Chamber. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Rick Barker) 
: Before I call the next member I will reiterate my point that speeches are to be about the Committee stage not a general second reading speech. Therefore if I hear more second reading speeches I simply will put the question. Members are not complying with rules the members have themselves set for the House. This is the Committee stage.