Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey and Labour list MP Dan Rosewarne have gone head to head over the proposed India Free Trade Agreement, the government’s economic management, and local infrastructure, in a wide ranging interview that previewed the shape of the contest for one of Canterbury’s most closely watched seats.

Asked about Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ public opposition to the India Free Trade Agreement, Doocey said Peters was entitled to his view, but the deal was crucial for New Zealand exporters.

“We’re a small trading nation at the bottom of the world, and the way we ensure that we have a good quality of living and we can afford education and good healthcare is selling our goods and services overseas,” Doocey said.

“I’ve got a business in my electorate, Sutton Tools. Quite frankly they’re saying by opening up India they’ll be able to double capacity, and that’s more local people being employed. So that’s why it’s just a win win.”

Rosewarne said Labour also backed the agreement but raised concerns about the tone of the debate and the speed of negotiations.

“This is a huge opportunity for New Zealand. What does concern me about the rhetoric though is the race baiting that was happening in the house and out on the tiles, and the Indian communities in my area are concerned about that,” Rosewarne said. “They feel that the second order consequence will be them getting called out in the street and getting unwanted attention and abuse, quite frankly.”

Doocey fired back, accusing Labour of creating uncertainty through months of delay.

“It’s a bit rich for Dan to say that. Labour’s played politics on this with us for over six months now, and has caused some of that tension within our Indian communities. If they had got on board a lot quicker and said this is the best thing for New Zealand, we wouldn’t have seen some of that division out on the street.”

Rosewarne defended Labour’s position, saying the agreement had to be tested before being signed.

“It’s only right that in the best interests of New Zealanders that we stress test the free trade agreement before it’s signed,” he said. “One concern we had was around the 33 billion dollar investment commitment. Todd McClay says that’s all aspirational, but already India is setting up oversight and has signalled that it will enforce that clawback. So if we haven’t met that within 15 years it might unravel that free trade agreement.”

He said Labour had secured commitments on labour inspectorate funding, faster visa processing for migrant workers seeking to change employer, and progress on a modern slavery bill.

“As a result of Labour’s efforts we’re able to put the feet to the fire from the government to prioritise that modern slavery bill and ensuring that it passes its first reading before the election, with a commitment to resourcing community law to provide legal advice for those migrant workers. So that’s a win.”

Pressed on Peters’ concerns about Indian workers and students competing for New Zealand jobs, Doocey was unequivocal.

“We disagree respectfully with Winston’s position on that. Todd McClay, our trade minister, has been very transparent, made it very clear that what Winston Peters was claiming was in fact not correct. What we do know is this is a good free trade agreement. It’s great for the country, and look, we just need to get on, put all the politics aside.”

Moody’s downgrade sets up an election economic fight

On Moody’s downgrade of New Zealand’s fiscal outlook, Rosewarne said the decision was a “clear verdict” on the government’s economic management.

“Under Labour New Zealand’s credit rating was upgraded even through a global pandemic, and that’s because our economic management, we’re in a good place compared to other countries during that COVID crisis,” he said.

“This Moody’s rating, it’s a clear verdict from independent experts on the two and a half years of Christopher Luxon’s economic management. It’s been poor. He promised to fix the economy. Instead he has made it worse. And soaring fuel prices are making things hard, that’s an extra layer of complexity, but people were already doing it tough before the war in Iran.”

Doocey said the downgrade reflected debt the government had inherited.

“If you look at the downgrading, it is in response to the debt that we inherited. It’s quite simple, it’s in the black and white there. This year alone government will spend 10 billion dollars not paying one dollar of that debt down, servicing the debt. That is the legacy we inherited. That’s why it’s been downgraded to a negative, because of the risk that that debt poses to the country.”

Asked what would lift the rating, Doocey pointed to spending discipline and cuts to the Official Cash Rate.

“Prudent fiscal management of not borrowing and hoping like the last government did, and that’s why we are getting the books back in order. I just point to the 12 or 13 cuts to the OCR bringing inflation down. We stripped out 42 billion dollars of back office wasteful spending returning to the frontline.”

Rosewarne rejected the “back office” framing.

“These are frontline workers. There are people working behind the scenes in our hospitals to make sure their healthcare is delivered to the people who need it. And Kiwis are feeling this pressure and they’re tired of that narrative. They don’t care about figures when they’re out trying to earn a living for their families, and they’re looking forward to November 7th.”

With both MPs contesting Waimakariri at the election, attention turned to local issues. Rosewarne said the cost of living was dominating doorstep conversations.

“I’m focused on jobs, health, homes, cost of living. The challenges people face in Waimakariri are the same as everywhere else in New Zealand,” he said. “Someone showed me their power bill. It’s 20 percent more expensive now than what it was two years ago.”

He said he and Doocey agreed on the need for the Woodend Bypass, but disagreed on how it should be funded.

“What Matt failed to mention before the last election was that National was going to toll it. I don’t support that tolling. It’s not going to give any extra jobs to locals. It’s going to get offshore people to manage it, and a large portion of that is going to go offshore.”

“People don’t want to have to pay an extra toll just to get their kids to school or take their kids to sport.”

Doocey said he did not recognise Rosewarne’s characterisation of how the tolling would work.

“I don’t really understand what any of that means. If we’re talking about the cost recovery of the tolls, that is all managed by NZTA. So they receive all that income, so there is no money going offshore. I’m really a bit bamboozled.”

He accused Labour of delaying the project when last in government.

“When you look at the Woodend Bypass, Labour’s history in that is they cancelled it and delayed it for six years, and now we’re having to build that at a greater cost. Their decision when they came into government in 2018 to cancel the Woodend Bypass has caused a lot of pressure on people, and now we are building it at a greater cost, and that is fact.”

Doocey described Waimakariri as “a vibrant place, it’s fast growing” and said the focus was on keeping up with the pressures of growth.

“When you have the growing pains of growth you’ve got to really ensure you get ahead of that curve. Vital investment into roading infrastructure, which we’ve just talked about, thanks to the National government and their Roads of National Significance programme.”

He also claimed credit for improvements in law and order.

“I’ve been the MP there for 12 years. Before Labour got into government last, I’d never heard of a ram raid in Waimakariri. Under Labour and Dan’s mob there was 15 in Waimakariri. Thankfully that no longer continues with our law and order approach.”

South Island transport funding debate

On Environment Canterbury Chair Deon Swiggs’ claim that Canterbury is being short changed on transport funding, despite contributing 12 percent of GDP and accounting for 15 percent of national vehicle travel while receiving only five percent of National Land Transport Fund investment, Rosewarne said Labour leader Chris Hipkins had made the same point.

“Christchurch and the South Island in general are not receiving funding proportional to the economic contribution, and that’s 100 percent correct,” Rosewarne said. “The government has been robbing Peter to pay Paul by diverting funds from existing projects and failing to adequately fund critical infrastructure.”

He pointed to the reallocation of 78 million dollars in transport funding, including public transport and the Brougham Street upgrade.

Doocey dismissed the criticism as “lazy politics.”

“The points he puts forward around proportion of people and GDP is just not how we make investment decisions into our roads, and he knows that. I’d point to the record investment, 1.8 billion into Canterbury roading. I would look at this government investing into Brougham Street, Pages Road bridge, that the last government didn’t.”

“Just look at our record when we were last in government. Southern Motorway, Northern Corridor, Western Belfast Bypass. So we’ve got a great legacy in the space. We gave the council an extra 100 million dollars, Christchurch City Council, for road maintenance on top of their existing funding as well.”

“We’ll stand on our record about building roads compared to Labour cancelling every proposed motorway in the South Island when they were last in government.”