Foss Craig: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Foss Craig: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 17 November 2009. Volume:659;Page:7683. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3.  
CRAIG FOSS (National—Tukituki) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: What measures has the Government taken to assist New Zealand exporters? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 To assist New Zealand exporters the Government needs to reverse the policies of the last Government which encouraged consumption and too much borrowing at the expense of exports and investment. One way the Government is addressing these issues is through a number of free-trade agreements with Asian and Pacific economies that are doing relatively well. These agreements will open up the opportunities for our exporters. 
Craig Foss 
: What free-trade agreements has the Government negotiated as part of this programme? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: In recent weeks the Government has signed a free-trade agreement with Malaysia concluded negotiations with Hong Kong and with the Gulf Cooperation Council and has made progress towards a free-trade deal with the United States through the trans-Pacific partnership of which New Zealand is a member. This follows the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement signed in February and the New Zealand - China Free Trade Agreement which was signed last year. Together these agreements could deliver many hundreds of millions of dollars of trade opportunities and most particularly thousands of jobs for New Zealanders. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Does he agree with the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association that “The real economy will only continue to deteriorate while the dollar remains at these elevated levels.”; if so why does he insist he can do nothing when even the Reserve Bank is moving towards recognising and taking steps to solve the problem? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: One of the reasons the real economy has been under pressure is the policies his party pursued when in Government which were reckless growth in Government spending far too much red tape and non-tradable inflation which represented a consistent tax on exporters. We have to undo all that damage. 
Craig Foss 
: What other steps has the Government taken to support New Zealand exporters? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: In addition to the programme of free-trade agreements the Government yesterday announced an extra $200 million in trade guarantees to increase opportunities for exporters. The Export Credit Office has been in place for some time but because of the recession there is greatly increased demand from exporters who cannot get trade guarantees in the private sector but who need them to grow their businesses and keep New Zealanders in jobs as we emerge from the recession. The total guarantees offered through the Export Credit Office now amount to three-quarters of a billion dollars. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: Does it concern the Minister that the Sustainability Council has estimated that under his amended emissions trading scheme large industry will meet only 1 percent of the costs with the overall fiscal cost increasing by $110 billion according to his Treasury. Does he not think he is gambling away New Zealand’s clean green reputation along with the future of our kids? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: No. We are showing a much better understanding than his party of the balance between achieving desirable environmental outcomes and providing jobs for New Zealanders. I am surprised that Labour which used to represent working people does not seem to be concerned about jobs at all. 
Craig Foss 
: How do the measures announced around the Export Guarantee Office fit within the Government’s wider programme to lift New Zealand’s economic productivity? 
Hon BILL ENGLISH 
: In general the economy can grow in the next 5 years only if we have less excessive consumption and borrowing—which has the been the pattern of the last 10 years—and more savings and investment in exports. The export credit guarantees provide opportunities for exporters who want to grow into new markets and who have trouble obtaining export credit but can provide more jobs. That is what this is all about.