Mike Hosking: Let's not get too picky about our trade partners

Russia, screamed the headline, is the new Government's first crisis.

Crisis is a very strong word and - as it turns out - completely misused in this particular case.

The "crisis" was the revelation that deep inside the coalition document was the agreement that a trade deal be finalised with Russia.

Before Russia got a bit heavy-handed with Ukraine and Crimea, we were in the throes of stitching something up with them.

Since that time things have cooled and the world broadly sees Russia as persona non grata.

Hence the revelation that we might want to warm things raised a few eyebrows in places like the European Union.

Prime Minister Jacinda Adern this week when meeting the German President was quick to put it all in perspective by assuring all who were listening that the EU was our first cab off the trade-deal rank.

Britain should also be up there as well and dare I suggest that Britain is going to prove a hell of a lot easier to get across the line, given Europe in many respects can't get out of its own way, hence the Poms' exit.

Can you realistically see Europe welcoming our butter and dairy and meat, and on a tariff-free basis?

Given the EU has to sign everything off 27 times in individual Parliaments, can you honestly see the French thinking that a superior cut of lamb, at half the price, that's not grown by a heavily subsidised part-time farmer is going to go down well in the rural hinterlands of a place like France?

Of course you can't.

But back to Russia. Although we can all see why we might want to hesitate in concluding any free-trade deal, can we also not see the irony, if not hypocrisy, in such a move?

We are at a similar stage, perhaps even closer, to a deal with Saudi Arabia, which has been in the wind for some years now.

That's right, Saudi Arabia - the very place that's rounded up half the population on corruption charges, and that's before you even get to the human rights aspects of the country. Are we off them as well?

And if we are, is there a new criteria for who we do and don't deal with?

Of course if we are going down this track, your ultimate hypocrisy must then be China.

Do we like China and its way of conducting domestic business?

Is its transgressions in human rights from our perspective any more or less egregious than that of the Saudis or Russia?

And if not, why is it we can't do enough business with the Chinese?

And haven't we realised that domestic matters within borders of trading partners is not actually our business - and if we decided it was, we'd be doing exactly no trade with anyone?

But here is the really good news on free trade, that's tangible and real as opposed to theoretical.

The TPP - Trans-Pacific Partnership in full.

It looks highly likely, if not almost certain, that we are going to sign.

The new Government is trying to tidy up a few details around the edges that it sees as important and one really wonders how much of that exercise is a bit of face saving, a bit of spin to try to convince the TPP opponents that this is a remarkably better deal than the previous Government's attempts.

But whatever changes it negotiates, the cold hard truth is that this Government, like the last, thank the good lord, gets the reality and importance of free trade.

No matter what the politics, the internal machinations,, the upset and concerns of others countries may be, we are a country of free traders.

We make and grow things to sell to the world, it is how we make our living.

The same way the shop keeper doesn't really run a list of rules as to who he or she allows through their door and up to their counter.

A country and its ability to trade isn't all that different.

We are either in business or we are not.