Editorial: Now the Hard Work Begins
OPINION: After much wrangling, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between New Zealand and India is a step closer to fruition.
Hoggard says his party believes in free trade and says anything that reduces tariffs is good.
His comments come in the light of NZ First’s decision to oppose the FTA with its leader Winston Peters saying it doesn’t do enough for the dairy industry and that the agreement will increase the number of Indian immigrants coming into NZ.
Labour is still discussing whether they will support the deal, apparently taking time to sort out the fine print in the agreement. However, it seems highly likely that in the end they will support its ratification when it comes before Parliament. The initial groundwork for the FTA was laid by their then Trade Minister Damien O’Connor before the last election.
Hoggard says getting the deal was in some ways against the odds. He says he recalls a speaker at the 2019 World Dairy Summit singled out NZ to a global audience and said there was no way that it would get an FTA with India. Hoggard says getting any compromise has always been a mission and he accepts that the FTA doesn’t do as much for dairy as he would like.
“But as a dairy farmer, why would I say that unless you get me some better access that I would say to all the horticulturalists and sheep and beef farmers you’ll just have to wait?
“The deal gives some good wins in other areas and is going to be meaningful to other parts of NZ farming and horticulture,” he says.
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Hoggard says the FTA was probably the best deal NZ could have expected on dairy.
He says there is a clause in the FTA which says that if another country gets a better deal on dairy with India then we can negotiate for a similar arrangement.
As for the immigration issues raised by NZ First, Hoggard says there is not going to be a flood of new Indian immigrants into NZ. He says there is no increase in visa numbers, rather it is offering a three-year working visa to certain people with specific skills that NZ needs. He says the visas are strictly for three years, at which point people on these visas must return to India.
“Sure, I’d like a better deal but the deal we have got is still a good one,” he says.
