Andrew Dickens: A good news story out of the Government

It's a bit easy to be negative these days. Times are tough and talk is cheap, and I like to manage expectations and not get too carried away with rhetoric. 

But today I'm going to praise the Government and be positive. 

The surprise announcement that free trade talks between New Zealand and India will start next month was great news.  

Like PPPs, it won’t be a game changer short term, but it is a step in the right direction. 

The welcome given to Christopher Luxon was quite a thing.  

Flags and billboards all over town.  A rowdy welcome from folk dancers and then the news that finally we will negotiate.  

Our recent battle in cricket is top of Indian minds and they know that we are already good friends.  

The benefits for both countries are large. 

For too long our need for dairy to be part of a comprehensive deal has held talks back. But India is still a way away from needing us.  

They have a huge but poorly performing herd of cows, but they are still self-sufficient with estimates of local production falling short in 25 years' time and not tomorrow. They will need us in the future.  

The Chinese free trade deal saw dairy finally included 20 years after our first agreement. This free trade thing is a long conversation.  

But there’s a lot more to India than dairy. 

Space is a no brainer. India is already aiming for the moon, and we’d love to help. 

IT is another sector that we can benefit from India's expertise to help our productivity. 

And with all eyes on Chinese expansion in the Indo-pacific region there is many reasons for a closer relationship. If tensions with China increase, our manufacturers will need India’s cheap labour.  

And on China, we need to have India on our side the same way we walk the tightrope with America on pacific security and a relationship with China. 

While we will always recognize dairy as a cornerstone to our competitiveness in global trade, we have often spoken of the need for diversification in our export markets.  

This deal offers a chance to grow and become broader based.  

And with a bit of luck dairy will join the ride as years go by. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And it's a bit easy to be negative these days.
Times are tough. Talk is cheap, and I know some
people think I'm a little bit negative, but I like
to manage expectations about stuff and realistically appraise things and
not get too carried away with rhetoric. But today, today
I'm going to praise the government and I'm going to
be positive. The surprise announcement that free trade talks between
New Zealand and India will start next month was to

(00:21):
me great news that I was not expecting. Like PPPs,
it won't be a game change a short term, but
it's certainly, like PPPs, a step in the right direction.
The welcome given to Christopher Luxen was quite a thing.
There were flags and billboards all over town that was
rowly welcome from folk dancers, they were happy to see us.
And then the news that we finally will negotiate. We've
recently battled them in cricket. India loves us and they

(00:44):
know we're already good friends. And look, the benefits for
both countries are going to be large. And for too long,
our need for dairy to be part of a comprehensive
deal has held talks back. But India is still a
way away from needing us in dairy. They have a
huge but poorly performing herd of cows. I mean they're
yield as atrocious, but they are still self sufficient. And

(01:04):
I was reading yesterday the estimates of local production are
falling short for the Indian market in about twenty five
years time, certainly not tomorrow. They don't need dairy now,
they will need dairy in the future. And I remind
you about the Chinese Free trade deal which we sign
but finally got dairy included twenty years after our first agreement.
So this free trade thing is a long conversation. When

(01:26):
they need us, they need us, and there's a lot
more to India than just dairy. Space space is a
no brainer. India's already aiming for the moon, They've already
been there. We have space, we have great tech. It
is another sector that we can benefit from India's expertise
to help our productivity. Our it is atrocious. And with
all eyes on Chinese expansion in the Indo Pacific region,

(01:48):
there are many reasons for a closer relationship. That's why
Christpher Luxen is talking right now at a defense seminar
in India, and if tensions were China increase, our manufacturers
will need India's cheap labor, and on China, we need
to have India on our side, the same way we
walk the tight rope with America on Pacific security, and
we still have a relationship with China. So why will

(02:10):
While we will always consider dairy as a cornerstone to
our competitiveness in global trade, we have often spoken of
the need to have some diversification in our export markets
and this deal offers us a chance to grow and
become broader base and with a bit of luck. In fact,
I'm sure of it. Deare we will join the ride
as years go by. For more from Early edition with

(02:34):
Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks it Be from
five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.