Tariff Act 1988 Repeal Bill
First Reading, Wednesday 5th of May 2010

TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki)245FLAVELL, TE URUROA20:29:44TE URUROA FLAVELL (Māori Party—Waiariki):

Tēnā nō tātou e te Whare. With an 18,000 kilometre coastline and a lack of land borders with other countries, Aotearoa is probably ideally suited to levying border tariffs on imported goods. In fact, tariffs have been a part of Government policies since right back in 1840. I am told that one of the first actions of Governor Hobson was a customs regulation ordinance, which imposed a tariff on alcohol, tobacco, tea, sugar, and grains. These days, however, most goods remain free of tax. I am told that in 2008 some 80 percent of the total value of New Zealand’s imports was tariff-free. There are some tariffs, of course, of around ten percent, and these apply mainly, as other speakers have said, to clothing, footwear, and carpet.

I understand Sir Roger’s kōrero that removing the payment of tariffs from importers would have some immediate benefits for consumers, with the likely reduction in the price of imported goods such as cellphones and computers. We know that the immediate income effects of lower consumer prices would inevitably benefit Māori, and to the extent that tariffs are a tax on exports there is a school of thought that tariff reduction would benefit Māori relatively more than other groups. This is in light of the fact that, on average, the Māori economic base is twice as export-intensive as the New Zealand economy.

But there are a couple of major hitches, and I will outline some of those. The Māori Party suggests that opening up the domestic market to a potential flood of imported goods could and would undermine locally manufactured goods. This move might threaten our own local manufacturers at a time when we can least afford it, and in the wave of the very successful introduction of the tobacco tax by my co-leader Tariana Turia just last week, it would be devastating if removing tariffs suddenly opened the door to a mass of cheap alcohol and cigarettes.

I will raise a couple of other issues very quickly. The first is that this bill is inconsistent with our position in the Māori Party about the bigger picture of our international relationships. In our policy document, He Aha Te Mea Nui?, we made a commitment that The economic benefits of international trade agreements need to be balanced with consideration of our own local, regional and national social progress and environmental enhancement.

That is the first point. The second point is that, as a political party, the Māori Party has opposed all free-trade agreement legislation to date. Our policy position is probably summed up best by saying that we want fair trade, not free trade. We seek a trading partnership that seeks greater equity in international trade, that offers better trading conditions, and that contributes to securing the rights of all workers. We say that more than profit is at stake. We want to see attention paid to labour and environmental justice issues, and to human rights issues. Finally, I cannot leave this debate without stating the obvious: the Government has decided against any review of tariffs until 2015 at the earliest. Quite simply, there is nothing in the 105 words in this tiny little bill to convince us as the Māori Party to disregard our policy position, to turn against our voting history, to shortcut the Government’s deadline, or to support this bill. That will inevitably tell this House that the Māori Party will not be supporting the bill at first reading. Kia ora tātou.

ENDS

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