3. Trans-Pacific Partnership—Trans-Pacific Partnership 11JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany) to the Minister of TradeORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSTrans-Pacific Partnership—Trans-Pacific Partnership 113. JAMI-LEE ROSS (National—Botany) to the Minister of Trade: What recent announcements has the Government made on trade?Hon TODD McCLAY (Minister of Trade): The Government has approved a negotiating mandate for the Trans-Pacific Partnership 11 (TPP11). New Zealand is pushing for as minimal change as possible to the original agreement something that the remaining TPP countries have agreed on. We also are seeking significant benefits for all New Zealanders. TPP11 Ministers have committed to moving forward with the agreement as quickly as possible.Jami-Lee Ross: Why is TPP11 important to New Zealand?Hon TODD McCLAY: It will ensure New Zealand remains competitive in overseas markets; it will create tens of thousands of jobs and billions for our economy. The most likely scenario now is that TPP11 will go ahead and there will be a decision for leaders to make in November. If other parties want to turn their back on the TPP they need to front up and tell Kiwis why we should miss out on significant opportunities in trade. Jami-Lee Ross: What benefits will New Zealanders miss out on if we are not part of TPP?Hon TODD McCLAY: TPP11 will be our first free-trade agreement with four new countries including Japan the world's third-largest consumer market. If other countries gain access to these markets ahead of us our key industries will suffer—620000 jobs in New Zealand depend on trade. If we do not continue to show leadership on international trade our ability to negotiate new free-trade agreements with other important markets will be put at risk—something that Clayton Cosgrove Phil Goff David Shearer and Helen Clark all clearly understand.Hon David Parker: Will he instruct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to at least seek to renegotiate the TPP so as to allow a future New Zealand Government to ban the sale of New Zealand homes to foreign buyers from TPP countries given that Australia has retained the right to ban overseas buyers of its homes under the very same TPP?Hon TODD McCLAY: Well there you have it—the same old Labour Party. Nothing in the TPP stops a future Government from introducing discriminatory tax settings on non-resident property purchasers. Labour has tried scaremongering on foreigners buying houses before. The evidence is that it is not having a major impact and Labour has not come up with any evidence that will change this under the TPP. In fact the housing market in Auckland is levelling off and it is a weak red herring that Labour wants to use instead of fronting up and telling New Zealand workers that their jobs are not important that their businesses and industries are not important and that it does not support free-trade agreements.Hon David Parker: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a very long answer but it did not answer or address my question as to whether he will instruct MFAT to—Hon Member: The member does this every time.Mr SPEAKER: No no.Hon David Parker: Well I still have not got an answer.Mr SPEAKER: Order! No; as I interpreted the answer it has certainly been addressed.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If this is all so good for New Zealanders why are New Zealand's chief negotiators for the TPP agreement meeting between 20 and 30 August—that is next week—in Sydney scheming to present the next New Zealand Government with a fait accompli for the APEC meeting in Vietnam in November without consultation with this Parliament whatsoever? Hon TODD McCLAY: That is because whilst New Zealand has an election trade will continue and the world moves on—and that is the exact difficulty challenge that we have. The challenge is that if we want our exporters to do well in overseas markets we need to be out fighting on their behalf. But there is an opportunity for every leader in this House to front up and tell New Zealanders whether they support trade and whether they support Kiwi jobs.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If we are not to have a bunch of globalist bureaucrats running our country rather than parliamentarians where is the national interest analysis (NIA) on either of the two options—which he can confirm today—that are the subject of these negotiations in Sydney from 20 to 30 August; and when was he going to share those with the Parliament of this country and its people?Hon TODD McCLAY: Well as the member knows from following the TPP12 process NIAs are presented once an agreement is reached and there will be an opportunity with the TPP11 for that also to happen. But clearly trade is important for New Zealanders and I think all members of this House believe that. What we need them to do is front up to Kiwis and tell them whether they are going to back Kiwi jobs and give better access to markets overseas so New Zealand can remain competitive.