Foss Craig: General Debate 
Foss Craig: General Debate 
[Volume:670;Page:16828] 
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
: 
 This is a sad day for our nation. It is also a day of celebration of firsts and of greatness. Let me acknowledge a fallen New Zealand soldier overseas. I join others in the House and the various party leaders who made speeches earlier. This is a sad sad moment. But it is also a day of celebration and firsts. It was an honour and a pleasure to hear the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard speak to the House. 
Today was the first time a leader of a foreign Government has spoken to the House—using the word “foreign” and the word “Australia” just does not seem to work—and it was a pleasure to hear the way she delivered her speech the content of the speech and her acknowledgment of the realities of the position of both our countries. Sure New Zealand is small and Australia is much larger but that presents opportunities to both of our countries. We acknowledge our shared past our shared whakapapa if you like in many many of the historic moments around our country. 
However I must say “Open the Gate Mate”. That was the catchcry of the Aussie apple protests that began in 2005 and picked up on 90-odd years of protests before that. The angle was not particularly acknowledged. Hawke’s Bay is a large apple-producing area as are Nelson Otago and areas of the Wairarapa etc. The apple industry is a very large industry for New Zealand. It employs many low-skilled people and of course some higher-skilled people along the way. The point is that New Zealand apples could not get into Australia. 
I will not relitigate the various debates as I think members know them very well but I acknowledge the Australian Apple Access Group from the Hawke’s Bay that with its partners in Nelson got the momentum and the ball rolling again. I still recall jumping on the steam train to come down to Wellington from the Hawke’s Bay to march on Parliament in May 2005. Good friends of people in Hawke’s Bay got the message to the Government of the time to start some action. Some action did start to happen to be fair. Attention came to the issue and to the inherent unfairness of it. The gate is now open mate. 
I acknowledge fully Prime Minister Gillard’s comments in the House and elsewhere about the issue. I would like to quote the headline from the  
Australian 
 newspaper which reported on the Australian Prime Minister’s speech because it captures it all: “PM applauded as she declares apple war truce in historic speech to New Zealand MPs”. We have to look forward. The agreement creates huge opportunities for the apple industry and for New Zealand. 
The investment protocol which the Hon Steven Joyce was just talking about brings the opportunities of a 25 million purchaser-consumer market on the doorstep of New Zealand and another of our primary products will now be accessible over there probably by next season with a bit of luck. 
The point is that it is not a fight; it is a partnership. It is about seizing the moment and seizing the opportunity. The global umpire of world trade the World Trade Organization has made a ruling and the Australians have accepted it and now we are both working hand in hand to seize the opportunities of the moment. Parallel to that is the investment protocol and the work that Simon Power is continuing. As the Minister of Finance acknowledged earlier today much of the work was begun under the previous administration. We freely acknowledge that fact although it does raise the question as to why various other speeches made by the Leader of the Opposition seem to be contradictory. Some time back Mr Goff essentially said he would renegotiate CER I think and here we are today celebrating a growth of CER. 
Anyone who ever doubts the worth of CER to New Zealand and to all of Australasia should imagine New Zealand without CER. Imagine how many jobs would be lost where our interest rates would be and how vulnerable our finance sector would be particularly following recent events. Today is a celebration of our mateship and comradeship with our good friends and colleagues in Australia. As both Prime Ministers alluded to we are almost family. 
I look forward to our Australian friends and family enjoying New Zealand apples alongside New Zealand wine and I look forward to welcoming them as we continue our discussions and negotiations towards having one open domestic airline market if in fact we can get there. The goodwill shown by both leaders today—and across the House to be fair—points towards a very positive future indeed. Thank you on this very great day of celebration.