Sio William: Tariff (New Zealand-Hong Kong China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Sio William: Tariff (New Zealand-Hong Kong China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 22 June 2010. Volume:664;Page:12100. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Mangere) 
: 
 Mr Deputy Speaker may I greet you by saying “Ni hao ma.” I think it is important on this occasion to greet you. I am laughing because my colleagues are making fun of my Chinese when I am trying to get into the mood of the occasion. I have never been to China but I know many many wonderful people out in Manukau who are of Chinese heritage and who give and contribute significantly to the local community in Manukau and no doubt throughout this country. In fact I have met a couple of mayors of Chinese heritage—one in the area of Gisborne who speaks Maori fluently and the other in the South Island who is from Dunedin or Christchurch? 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Dunedin—Peter Chin. 
SU’A WILLIAM SIO 
: Dunedin. They are wonderful people and wonderful friends. Peter Chin showed me the Chinese garden in Dunedin. 
We are debating the Tariff (New Zealand-Hong Kong China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement) Amendment Bill which is a mouthful. I know I have relatives who are of Chinese heritage. In fact more recently there was the addition to our family some years ago of my sister-in-law—although originally from China she comes from Malaysia and we will be talking about the Tariff (Malaysia Free Trade Agreement) Amendment Bill later on. 
In the past 6 or 7 months my office has been assisting a young man from Manukau who has a girlfriend living in Hong Kong and who has been attempting to bring her over here. For some reason it has taken close to 7 months before agreement by our immigration authorities for her to receive a visa to be able to visit this young man in Manukau. I thought I would say those things by way of preface as we debate this bill. As a young man I always wanted to go to China and I wanted to be around Hong Kong. In fact when Bruce Lee came out we all thought he was a relative. Nevertheless I know that some members of this House are planning to go to China later on this year or next month particularly to the Shanghai Expo which I understand is an expo that will probably be receiving many heads of State from throughout the world. 
This is a Government bill that has been introduced by the Hon Tim Groser the Minister of Trade and it is about a closer economic partnership agreement. Closer economic partnerships are a vital part of New Zealand’s economic development policy. We in Labour are supporting this closer economic partnership because we believe it will provide increased opportunities and certainty for New Zealand exports to an important market. It is a market that will be very critical for the rest of the world simply because of the sheer size of its population and with that population will come significant demands for goods—food in particular. It is also a market that is of concern in terms of other aspects and I will get into that at a later stage. 
Closer economic partnerships lead to increased exports and imports and the potential for added wealth to both countries. I understand that New Zealand signed this closer economic partnership with Hong Kong on 29 March so this bill now implements that agreement. The bill amends the Tariff Act. That is part of the implementation of the Tariff (New Zealand-Hong Kong China Closer Economic Partnership Agreement) Amendment Bill. The amendments will enable the application of preferential tariff rates under the closer economic partnership. Not only is Hong Kong an important market in its own right our ninth-largest export destination in 2009 but also it provides a vital foothold for New Zealand businesses expanding into the much larger Chinese market. With the number of New Zealand citizens of Chinese heritage living in this country I think it bodes well that we are developing relationships not only on the human level but also on the business level and the cultural level. As I have always maintained New Zealand is a much richer country by accepting that it is not just about business but about building on and developing people and relationships. 
No doubt these things as I understand them take time. The closer economic partnership agreement had its roots in the work of former trade Minister Jim Sutton and it was reinvigorated by the Hon Phil Goff during his tenure as trade Minister. I think it is important that we recognise the efforts of those who have worked on this in the past to get us to this point. I suspect that we will see in the future the fruits of the work that Mr Tim Groser is doing as Minister of Trade—or maybe we will see no fruit whatever the case may be. The point I am making is that often working towards signing these trade agreements takes some time. It takes some work on people relationships because if we are not able to build trust how can we trade? 
From Labour’s perspective we welcome this bill and the closer economic partnership as it further develops our already close relationship with the people and Government of Hong Kong. It is important from our perspective that we build closer economic relationships with Asia as that is a vital market for New Zealand’s future economic prosperity and will be a major market in the future as I have said. This closer economic partnership is another step in that direction. 
I listened to the Green members and they raised some concerns that I think are fair enough. Although free-trade agreements and closer economic partnerships come with undoubted benefits we cannot ignore the fact that for some businesses and sectors free-trade agreements and closer economic partnerships can cause harm. This closer economic partnership has been evaluated as having a low negative impact on New Zealand businesses largely because Hong Kong specialises in services rather than cheap manufactured goods which could undercut some of our local businesses. New Zealand manufacturers of footwear textiles etc. are most at risk from free-trade agreements. This closer economic partnership has given those sectors the longest tariff phase-out period in order to allow them time to adjust. 
Labour rights and environmental sustainability are core New Zealand values which should not be sacrificed for the sake of increased trade so when we are undertaking negotiations they need to be high on the agenda. I understand that we are supporting this closer economic partnership because it enhances labour rights and environmental sustainability. The closer economic partnership contains an environment agreement with shared objectives between New Zealand and Hong Kong aimed at improving the environment and enhancing the capacity and capability of each country’s Government agencies research organisations academic institutions and businesses to address trade and environmental matters. 
Finally the national interest analysis states that the closer economic partnership is “not expected to have any negative effects on the environment in New Zealand that cannot be managed using existing policy frameworks. Its provisions may encourage improved productivity in the use of natural resources.” The concern that I raise initially really has to do with our customs portfolio. Our country has been working quite strongly to ensure that we detect illegal drugs crossing our borders and I think there will be others who have some concern about that. When we enter into these relationships I think it is to the benefit of our country that we develop them slowly and that we ensure that laws are in place to implement and enhance them but I think we also need to be letting the rest of the world particularly our partners know that we have certain core values here that we respect.