Woods MeganDr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram): It is my pleasure to take a call on this bill and to outline again why Labour is not supporting this legislation. As my colleague Dr David Clark spelt out this is not a decision we came to lightly. When we as a Labour Party came to consider this yes we did consider our history. We did consider that as well as establishing the welfare State building State houses and putting in place the kind of New Zealand we believed in the first Labour Government was also actively engaged in taking New Zealand to the world and establishing our trade links and that is something that we as a party are proud of. But what we are not prepared to back is a piece of legislation that is not about trade. What we have in front of us today is not about trade. It undermines New Zealand's sovereignty for speculative gains. We will come to the analysis and what it means for New Zealand. What we have heard aside from a whole lot of anger on the Government benches today is a whole lot of mistruths about what it is that this deal means for New Zealand. I would like to turn to Todd Muller's speech. He angrily waved the bill about and said that this was the future of work. Well I fear for our country that there are members on the Government benches who think that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the future for our country. What this is about is a Government that is short-sighted and does not have any plan for the future. This is about a Government that does not have any kind of long-term view. What that Government member Todd Muller thinks is the plan for the future is a 0.05 percent increase in GDP. What he thinks is the future of work is analysis that shows that because of this agreement we are looking at 6000 fewer jobs. What we are seeing from that member is that he thinks this is the plan for the future. The Minister who negotiated it said: If we can't get a good deal out of it we'll walk away." Well there is not a good deal. There is a minuscule deal for dairy in here—there are tiny gains for it—and Government members think this is the future. What this country needs is a Government that understands what is coming understands that the nature of work is changing understands that our economy has to change with it and understands that the country needs a Government that will be able to stand up for it. What we will not be able to do under this legislation is put in place the kinds of protections we want in place in our economy to make sure that we are ready for the 21st century and that is something that this Government has absolutely no plans around. We want to make sure that we can put restrictions on foreign non-resident buyers in the housing market. I know this is a Government that has absolutely no plan for addressing the housing crisis and this just adds to it. The Government's support of this and its claim that this is what it believes the future is is emblematic of a Government that is out of ideas not facing the 21st century with any kind of plan out of touch and growing increasingly arrogant—it has "been there". So we have had the idea of the economic benefit and what that will mean for New Zealand but let us have a look at that. I know that Mr Muller thinks that this is the future of work in New Zealand and we have seen that by 2030 that would be a 0.05 percent increase in GDP. That is ambitious for the future—that is real ambition I can see over there on the Government benches! The magnitude of the 0.9 percent GDP change forecast by the Government as a result of the TPP implementation by 2030 contrasts sharply with the expected business-as-usual GDP increase of 47 percent over the same time period. So what is this deal adding? We know what it is taking away but what is the value added by this deal? What is it giving us as a country? I have already alluded to the Tufts University analysis that says that by 2025 there could be 6000 fewer jobs in this country as a result of this agreement. How is that good for us in the future? How is that good for the future of work? That same Tufts University study also forecasts that the labour share of output—that is called wages and salaries for those who are wondering—would see a fall of 1.45 percent over that period. If that is what the National Government thinks is the future of work then New Zealanders should be very very afraid. If it thinks that the future of work is falling wages fewer jobs and stagnant growth from the kind of deal that it is going to put in place then New Zealanders should be incredibly worried. Labour stands with the people who called for up-to-date 21st century analysis—credible sophisticated analysis—of the TPP and its likely impacts on our economy. We cannot get away with the top-line theory that we are seeing trotted out by the Government members who have been put up to speak on this bill. We have also had the constant refrain from members that this is what small business wants but no member on the Government benches has addressed the Mind Your Own Business survey that came out which showed that only 39 percent of small businesses were in favour of the TPP. This is a Government that thinks that it is going to be good for small business but small business is telling it—[Interruption]The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Lindsay Tisch): Order! I want to hear what the speaker is saying so this—[Interruption] Order! I am on my feet. This barracking across the cross benches is unacceptable.Dr MEGAN WOODS: Maybe the barracker will get a call at some point. But the idea that small businesses are saying that less than half 39 percent of them are in favour of this deal is something that shows just how out of touch this Government is. It says: "Trade good." Yes we agree. Trade is good and we in the Labour Party have always stood for free trade but what we will not stand for is this agreement which does not protect our future. It is about more than trade and it does not set us up for the kind of New Zealand that we on this side of the House have a vision for—one where we have security of work one where we have a flourishing economy and one where we can be in charge of our own destiny. That is the kind of New Zealand that we are ambitious for on this side of the House. I think a previous speaker from New Zealand First spoke about a group of people who came to Parliament today. There was a mother and her three children who had walked from Christchurch over the last 20 days. They had walked 20 kilometres a day to get here to Wellington today. What they were worried about was the future. What drove that woman to set out on this hīkoi of the South Island—of course they took the ferry to get here to Wellington—was fear for her children's future. For many New Zealanders this is what they are concerned about when they hear about the TPP. They are concerned about the kind of future we are facing. When Government members get on their hind legs and say they believe that this agreement means a positive future for New Zealand and when that is as ambitious as they get New Zealanders should be worried for their children's future. We need to have a country where we can support that future. I think Mr Robertson revealed quite a lot when he talked of his anxiety dreams about preparing for exams that did not exist. We have heard about other countries that have put this on ice—because we do not even know that this is a deal that is going to go ahead. Joe Biden has given it a less than fifty-fifty chance—a less than even chance—of getting through. We have seen other countries—we have seen Vietnam we have seen Japan—delay this legislation because the agreement is not even a given. But here we are rushing this through. It was a rushed process all the way through and we do not even know that the agreement will come to pass. It is a real shame that we have not taken the opportunity instead to think about what the future can and will be for New Zealand and what it is that we can offer our children. Labour does not support this legislation."