What a surprise, Labour has agreed to support the India free trade agreement - although it wasn’t really a surprise when it was announced today.

I told you last week it would happen this week and Labour would give it the green light because there was really no other way for them to go.

If Labour had said no and blocked the agreement, they would have been accused of stopping New Zealand businesses - like apple growers - from making money that is effectively there for the taking.

I think Labour simply dragged this out for political reasons. Saying yes straight away would have meant acknowledging they liked what Todd McClay and National had done.

Instead, they dragged it out, looked like they were agonising over the decision and pretended they improved the deal by getting National to hire 14 more inspectors to focus on migrant worker exploitation.

All of that was done to give the impression the deal isn’t actually as good as it seems, while still saying yes so businesses can benefit from it.

And let me remind you: this is an incredible accomplishment when you think about it. Remember when Chris Luxon said during the 2023 election that he wanted this deal signed in his first term? He was poo-pooed for dreaming.

Ambitious, yes. Likely, no.

And yet here we are. Todd McClay - a trade minister who keeps knocking it out of the park with the Gulf States FTA and the United Arab Emirates FTA - has done it again. Even more impressively this time because this is India. A huge market and New Zealand has just secured access.

And by the way, who do you think was more painful for McClay to negotiate with - the Indians or Labour?

What a surprise, Labour has agreed to support the India free trade agreement - although it wasn’t really a surprise when it was announced today.
I told you last week it would happen this week and Labour would give it the green light because there was really no other way for them to go.
If Labour had said no and blocked the agreement, they would have been accused of stopping New Zealand businesses - like apple growers - from making money that is effectively there for the taking.
I think Labour simply dragged this out for political reasons. Saying yes straight away would have meant acknowledging they liked what Todd McClay and National had done.
Instead, they dragged it out, looked like they were agonising over the decision and pretended they improved the deal by getting National to hire 14 more inspectors to focus on migrant worker exploitation.
All of that was done to give the impression the deal isn’t actually as good as it seems, while still saying yes so businesses can benefit from it.
And let me remind you: this is an incredible accomplishment when you think about it. Remember when Chris Luxon said during the 2023 election that he wanted this deal signed in his first term? He was poo-pooed for dreaming.
Ambitious, yes. Likely, no.
And yet here we are. Todd McClay - a trade minister who keeps knocking it out of the park with the Gulf States FTA and the United Arab Emirates FTA - has done it again. Even more impressively this time because this is India. A huge market and New Zealand has just secured access.
And by the way, who do you think was more painful for McClay to negotiate with - the Indians or Labour?

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Labour had no other direction to go on the India FTA

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/61eb4974-5d16-4b7a-b4d5-b4350077349d/transcript