Mike's Minute: Free trade is our calling card

Maybe India said it better than we did. 

But to be clear, here is what India says: the 5000 Kiwi visas as part of our FTA are about "mobility, not migration". 

Immigration and mobility of skilled manpower are two different issues altogether. 

Chief stirrer Winston Peters claims the Indians were not aware of the limits placed on temporary visas – it would appear he is wrong. 

Time will prove the other issue wrong, which is this petty, little scrap over the $20 billion investment. 

For a country who is famous for free trade, what a sad and sorry old tale it has been to watch the latest version unfold. 

It quite possibly is a reflection of the times in which we live, where a stand must be taken and the stand must be black or white, up or down, right or wrong. 

Nuance is no longer a currency. 

Even Chris Hipkins, who should be proud of the history of his own party's role in free trade, couldn’t help himself with his eyes-wide-open comments the day after the deal was signed. The deal he was dragged kicking and screaming into supporting, despite the fact anyone with their head screwed on really couldn’t object. 

Free trade, lest we forget, and some clearly have, is about good will. 

It's not a con and it's not a scam. You are not looking to get one over the person you have just done a deal with – you're on the same team. 

Having negotiated around your differences, in this case dairy, you want the best for each other. You want to grow and prosper. You are looking to the other side to help you out. 

Yet in the India FTA, like nothing I have seen before, a queue quickly formed full of people looking to pick holes, to make stories up, to confuse and misdirect, or to just be straight up and down racist. 

In a world where Trump in particular is trying to destabilise the order of business, you would have hoped this one sailed through and that it would've got a bit more patriotism behind it than it did. 

This as a nation is what we do. Free trade is our calling card. 

What a weird old thing – we have among us so many who would rather watch us, and possibly revel, in our failure. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But yeah, maybe India said it better than we did

(00:01):
at the end of the day. But to be clear,
here is what India said. The five thousand Kiwi visas
as part of our FTA are about mobility, not migration.
Immigration and mobility of skilled manpower are two different issues altogether.
Now Chief Stirr Winston Peters claims the Indians were not
aware of the limits placed on the temporary visas. It

(00:22):
would appear he's wrong. Time will prove the usher other
issue wrong as well. This petty little scrap we've had
over the twenty billion investment for a country who was
famous for free trade. What a sad and sorry old
tale that's been to watch the latest version unfold. Quite
possibly is a reflection I was thinking to himself yesterday.
Quite possibly a reflection of the times in which we live.
You know, a stand has to be taken, and the

(00:43):
stand has to be These days, black are white, up
or down, right or wrong. Nuance no longer a currency.
Even Chris Hipkins, who should be proud of his history
of his own party's role in free trade, couldn't help
himself with his eyes wide open comments the day after
the deal was signed. The deal he was dragged, kicking
and screaming into supporting, despite the fact that anyone with
their headscrewed on really couldn't object. Free trade, lest we forget,

(01:06):
and some clearly have, is about goodwill. It's not a con,
it's not a scam. You're not looking to get one
over the other person you've just done a deal with.
You're on the same team, having negotiated around your differences
in this case dairy. You want the best for each other,
You want to grow and prosper together. You are looking
to the other side to help you out. And yet

(01:26):
in the India FDA, like none I've seen before, a
que quickly form full of people looking to pick holes,
make stories up, confuse and misdirect, or just be straight
up and down racist. In a world where Trump in
particular is trying to destabilize the order of business, you
would have hoped this one sailed through and that it
would have got a bit more patriotism behind it than
it did. This as a nation is what we do.

(01:49):
Free trade is our calling card. What a weird old
thing we have among us, So many who would rather
watch us and quite possibly revel in our failure for
more from the mic, asking Breakfast. Listen live to news
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