Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:673;Page:19735] 
8. 
Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) 
 to the  
Acting Minister for Economic Development 
: Did the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Beachheads advisory board in China resign en masse the week before last; if so for what reasons? 
Hon DAVID CARTER (Acting Minister for Economic Development) 
: 
 Yes; differences of opinion developed over quite a period of time between the beachhead advisory board and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and it was agreed that the best way forward was to start with a clean slate. 
Hon David Parker 
: Did the Minister read the prior warnings in newspaper or other reports quoting David Mahon the then chair of the beachhead board criticising New Zealand’s failure to pursue opportunities under the free-trade agreement with China in which he said “Trade agreements that are not followed by integrated commercial strategies are the most empty of political marriages. New Zealand’s free trade agreement signed with China in 2008 is one such unconsummated marriage.”? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I did read those comments and I certainly do not agree with them. 
Hon David Parker 
: Why should New Zealanders have any confidence in the Government’s handling of trade and investment opportunities with China given that the mass resignation of the private sector participants in the Beachheads programme for China is a vote of no confidence by those most closely involved? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I am quite happy to tell the member why we should have confidence in the work of New Zealand exporters and of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. China has become New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner since 2008. We have observed a 140 percent increase in the amount of trade with that country. That is the fastest rate of growth in the history of New Zealand and of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. 
Hon David Parker 
: Does the Minister intend to replace the private sector beachhead board or is this just another area where the Government has no adequate plan to support the growth of the New Zealand economy? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: The Beachheads programme is but one suite of mechanisms used by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. It is absolutely an operational matter as to how the advisory board’s relationship with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is managed and it is over to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to decide whether to replace the board. The figures speak for themselves. When we can talk about a 140 percent increase in trade over 3 years for the member to suggest that New Zealand is not trading satisfactorily with China is just a plain nonsense. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: What damage has been done to New Zealand’s reputation with our second-largest trading partner by the complete collapse of this well-known and defective beachhead board in the wake of the Government’s intervention? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I do not believe any damage has been done which will be a disappointment to the Labour Party. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: What does the Minister intend to do to restore any damage to New Zealand’s reputation in China after this very patent debacle? 
Hon DAVID CARTER 
: I do not believe any damage has been done to the New Zealand reputation in China at all. What the member needs to realise is that the Beachheads programme dealt with 12 New Zealand companies working in China; New Zealand Trade and Enterprise works with 183 companies quite successfully as the trade figures demonstrate.