Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Well, what a remarkable flip-flop we have heard here today—the Minister for Trade on his feet, lauding the benefits of a bilateral free trade agreement. What a profound moment this is, and I congratulate the member for Hotham for at last seeing the light, albeit six months late. It is a conversion on the road to Damascus, some might say. Of course, the Minister for Trade is right; this is a significant development for the Australian export industry. But let us remember that this free trade agreement is one that the minister did not negotiate the hard yards on. The hard yards were travelled by the member for Wide Bay and shadow minister for transport.

Free trade agreements do deliver sweeping benefits to Australian exporters and investors, and that is why the coalition government was serious about negotiating new opportunities for Australian exporters in the form of new free trade agreements. That is exactly why the coalition began the negotiation process with Australia’s third largest trading partner in Latin America. It is exactly why the previous government put in the hard work and took the process so far and so seriously. As the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources I visited Chile in 2005, meeting with business and industry representatives. It was at that point that this free trade agreement was again raised with me. I understand it had been first raised with the previous Minister for Trade, Mr Vaile, the member for Lyne, because this market was one that the previous government took so seriously and recognised as fertile ground to provide new opportunities for Australian exporters.

One does have to wonder what the lightning bolt moment was that convinced the now Minister for Trade to get on board, because for the past six months, and stretching back even further than that to his time in opposition, the member for Hotham has been spinning a very different story. It was not long ago that the minister was dismissing free trade agreements as the poor cousin to multilateral agreements. During the member for Hotham’s tenure, the minister has been crying foul over the previous government’s broad-reaching and pragmatic approach to trade.

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