Robertson Grant: Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Robertson Grant: Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:664;Page:12119] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour—Wellington Central) 
: 
 It is an honour to rise in this debate today. The first thing I will do in debating the Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill is to welcome the Minister of Trade back to New Zealand from his successful foray into supporting Australian politicians. 
Hon Tim Groser 
: I wasn’t consulted! 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Ha ha! I am sure as the day evolves we will be able to see the impact of the Minister’s triumphal visit to Australia on the fortunes of the Australian Prime Minister. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Where are you going next? 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: Yes! Some colleagues have suggested that Mr Groser’s visa for the United States has been revoked by Barack Obama for fear of what might happen to him while Mr Groser is over there. In all seriousness I congratulate Mr Groser as the Minister of Trade and indeed in his role in his former career on the work he has done on free-trade agreements; he has had a bit to do with this one in particular. I also congratulate former Labour Ministers Phil Goff and Jim Sutton who played a key role in the initial development of the Malaysia - New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the many foreign affairs officials who work on these agreements. An awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes not just it might be said from trade negotiators but also from those who manage the overall relationship between New Zealand and countries like in this case Malaysia. The trust that is built up over time lies behind an agreement like the Malaysia - New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. We are not able to make these kinds of high-quality agreements if we do not have high-quality diplomats and foreign affairs officials working overseas and negotiating for them. I offer my congratulations and thanks to those foreign affairs officials and indeed to the officials from other departments and agencies who have been involved in this particular agreement. 
This agreement is highly significant. It is also a high-quality agreement as well as free-trade agreements go. Malaysia is a significant country for New Zealand trade as other speakers have noted. Between 2004 and 2008 there was an 80 percent increase in New Zealand exports to Malaysia and in 2008 our exports were worth nearly $1 billion. It is a significant trading relationship for New Zealand and one that is obviously growing. It is a high-quality agreement in the sense that 95 percent of the tariffs that are being reduced will come into force on the day of agreement. That is excellent. It will be 99.5 percent by 2016. That is 5 years earlier than for the ASEAN free-trade agreement so that is an improvement in quality. It is a step forward in terms of how our trade agreements are progressing. 
A conservative estimate would tell us that there is a benefit of probably $10 million per annum just in the tariff changes. This agreement will really benefit exporters. It is of high quality. It has the elements of a free-trade agreement that we are used to. It takes into account services as well as goods and I do not think we always give as much attention to the importance of the services side of these free-trade agreements. A lot of successful New Zealand businesses are involved in the services sector perhaps as well as in the exporting of goods but this is a high-quality agreement in terms of services as well as in terms of our core exports. 
I think my colleague Maryan Street has already talked about the importance of the kiwifruit sector and clearly the removal of the tariff there will make a huge difference for Zespri. I know that Zespri and some of our other large exporters have also played a key role in this agreement. The agreement also binds in the existing duty-free access for New Zealand dairy products. Dairy products are usually a problem for us in our free-trade agreements but it is good to see that we have managed to put a situation in place in this agreement where we bind in what is already a good situation and hopefully improve on it as we go ahead. 
I will talk about two elements that sit around this agreement having now outlined the fact that obviously Labour supports this bill. We support the free-trade agreement and we recognise the quality of it. Free-trade agreements need to be seen as part of our overall economic approach. I think my colleague Jacinda Ardern has already addressed the question of monetary policy and the fact that it is important to talk about what we can do better in terms of monetary policy. We have had a consensus in that area but the question many exporters raise with me and with other colleagues is whether that balance of monetary policy is right in terms of supporting the exporters who are a key part of this free-trade agreement. Those exporters are worried about the volatility of exchange rates. They are concerned that our current monetary policy focus is too narrow. I think that when we look at free-trade agreements we need to look at them alongside the rest of what we are doing. 
We also need to look at them alongside domestic policy. We need to look at how we are encouraging and supporting exporters; at what kinds of regional development plans we have; at what the plan for growth and jobs in New Zealand is; at whether we are creating the skilled population the productive population that will be able to take advantage of an agreement like this; at where the Government’s skills strategy is; and at why the Government is not encouraging more people into tertiary education rather than shutting the doors on people going into tertiary education. Free-trade agreements are fantastic and give a deliverable outcome to New Zealand but if New Zealand is to take advantage of those agreements it needs to have the infrastructure behind it. We need the infrastructure behind that in terms of how the economy is organised. We need to ask how we can have a skilled and productive workforce and how innovative ideas are able to be supported and taken forward. The Government is very proud of this bill as it should be but we need to ask where is the overall economic plan to deliver high-quality jobs to support the people who have the skills and to give people new skills to make sure they can contribute to this free-trade agreement and to growing the New Zealand economy. 
The other element I will raise relates to what I call the side agreements to this free-trade agreement. In particular in this case as has been the case in a number of recent free-trade agreements there is an environmental cooperation agreement and a labour cooperation agreement. These have become a feature of recent bilateral free-trade agreements for New Zealand and I think that is an extremely positive thing. For some time since around the beginning of the century the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and others were very reluctant to negotiate environment and labour cooperation agreements and some of our partner countries were also clearly reluctant but they have now become a regular feature. They offer a very important alternative and a very important different track for our relationships with these countries. 
I have just come back from China with a Wellington City delegation and one of the main things being raised with us as a delegation was the question of how we could work together in terms of environmental cooperation. The Chinese—and I am sure the Malaysians as well—are very interested in renewable energy. They are very interested in freshwater management. They are very interested in a range of environmental issues such as air quality where New Zealand has some expertise and knowledge and where they also obviously have a great deal of expertise and knowledge. 
I believe that these environmental cooperation agreements in particular are a real opportunity for New Zealand. I hope that the Government will not see these agreements just as a tack-on that has been put on to the end of a free-trade agreement to placate people but rather as an opportunity to actually grow our relationship with countries that are developing at an enormously fast rate which is putting huge pressure on their environment. Here is an opportunity for us. We have the framework; let us use it. Let us make it a key part of our relationship with Malaysia in this case and with all the countries that we have free-trade agreements with. 
The same goes for labour cooperation agreements. The labour cooperation agreements have sometimes been even more controversial because they cut to labour standards issues such as issues about wages and about health and safety. In China those are major issues at the moment. Foxccon faces huge issues with its workforce. It has massively increased the wage bill but it is still having major issues. We have a lot to offer countries with regard to a cooperative model of labour relations and the importance of health and safety. I just urge in closing that this is a high-quality agreement but there are also side agreements that offer a huge opportunity for New Zealand to broaden and deepen our relationship with Malaysia in this case and our relationships with other countries that we have a free-trade agreement with. 
I am happy to support this bill. Free trade is not the be-all and end-all of our economic relationships but it is an important part of driving our economic growth and improving our relationships with the countries in our region.