Brown Peter: New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement Bill — In Committee 
Brown Peter: New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:648;Page:17370] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I was not going to take a call on this part but after listening to the honourable member I must make a few points. First of all the Singapore - New Zealand free-trade agreement is hugely advantageous to Singapore. Let us not kid ourselves. Singapore has done very very well out of that agreement. The member sits there and quotes— 
John Hayes 
: Give us an example. 
PETER BROWN 
: Singapore is of similar population size to New Zealand. China’s population is 1.3 billion or something along those lines compared with a country with a population of 4 million. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: What’s Winston doing there? 
PETER BROWN 
: Those members are embarrassed. They can ask questions only about irrelevant subjects at this point in time. If the member who has just resumed his seat thinks that China is going to harmonise its electrical industry because New Zealand has signed a free-trade agreement then I ask him who the hell he thinks he is fooling. I think he might have fooled his own party but I notice that Government members on this side of the Chamber are staying silent. They are not standing up in support because they know in their heart of hearts that this will not deliver as Mr Groser tried to make out. If we wanted to buy umpteen refrigerators from the Chinese they would be making them now for us. They would make them to the standard we wanted sell them and deliver them on Chinese ships. We are fooling ourselves if we think that this agreement will have a major influence on the Chinese electrical industry. It will not. We are but a teardrop in a river. 
I have sat here all night trying to listen so I can find out what this trade agreement is about in detail. I have listened to the National Party people but I have not learnt or gleaned one iota from them. I can only conclude that they themselves do not even know what it is about. They think it is a good thing and I give them credit for that but they do not understand the details. I ask National Party members what is in it for the Chinese. If they think there is nothing in it for the Chinese they really are fooling themselves. I have had some dealings with the Chinese people in other fields of endeavour and I can say that the Chinese look after the Chinese first and foremost. I can say that when it comes to electrical goods the Chinese will be doing exactly the same as they do in any other field of endeavour which is putting their own country their own people and their own economic well-being first. They do not particularly look after their people. In fact the working people in China work under terrible conditions. But I will say that if we wanted to buy refrigerators as the honourable member suggested we might want to then the Chinese would build them by the million if that is what we wanted and to the standard that we want here. But to sign a free-trade agreement on that rather naive basis is beyond words. It is stupid to the maximum. 
I would like the National members to conscientiously address this issue and tell us what is in it. There was an invitation to have a wide-ranging debate and National turned that down. I have not heard one of its speakers stick to the part religiously and tell us what is what including this part. And the member there who is putting his hands together in major parts of his speech talked of his concerns about what New Zealand First is thinking. We do not need a free-trade agreement to have a market in electrical goods with the Chinese. They would saturate us with anything we wanted. If we gave them the order they would allow our firms to go out and employ Chinese to manufacture there. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Marian Hobbs) 
: Mr Brown please keep to the part concerned. 
PETER BROWN 
: I am keeping to the part concerned but I am also actually responding to some of the comments from National members that you Madam Chairperson have let go and I cannot let them go uncontested. 
I have not heard one reason in the debate on this part or any other part why this nation should sign a free-trade agreement with the Chinese. I would like to hear something from the National Party because its members are sitting over there saying that they know it all and that they have all the answers. Well I am saying that in years to come there will be a Tui sign saying: “Free-trade agreement advantage to New Zealand? Yeah right!”. 
The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Marian Hobbs) 
: Before I call Mr Brownlee I just warn him that the debate will be wider when we get to clauses 1 and 2 which is really what that last speech was about. I do not want a repetition so I hope that the member is going to speak on Part 5.