Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, I now turn to the issue of the United Nations Security Council campaign for a temporary seat for 2013-14. What has been the total expenditure on the campaign, including staff seconded to the UNSC campaign? How many staff are working on the campaign? How many countries have pledged their votes in writing to Australia and how many have given verbal pledges? How many have indicated that they will not be voting for Australia? How many have said that they are undecided? Has there been an increase in the number of invitations to Australia to the leaders of other nations? What is the average cost of each visit? Typically what costs are borne by the Australian taxpayer of each visit? Has the department assessed the level of additional resources that will be needed if Australia is successful in its bid for a temporary seat? If so, how much will be required?

I refer the minister to Australia's promotion of its candidature for the UN Security Council. Has the department updated this big booklet or website to reflect the government's revised time frame for expanding overseas development aid? It still says that you are going to deliver five per cent of GNI by 2015. I also note that the member for Griffith is still described as the foreign minister in the booklet. Has this been updated? If not, why not? How much did it cost to produce the booklets? How many booklets were produced? How much would it cost to reprint all the booklets, if that has been done? Will the department remove the booklets with the factual errors from website and from broader circulation?

Was the foreign minister advised by the department to threaten Papua New Guinea that Australia would organise the world to isolate and condemn Papua New Guinea and impose sanctions if elections in Papua New Guinea were delayed?

Has the live cattle trade to Indonesia recovered to its pre-suspension levels? What has been the cost to Australia's cattle industry from the lesser demand from Indonesia for our livestock? Was there any understanding between the Australian government and the Indonesian government to secure a reduction in Schapelle Corby's sentence after the release of Indonesian minors from Australian jails? Was the possibility of juvenile detention for the Indonesian minors considered? Was the Prime Minister advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to personally telephone the so-called Bali boy after his arrest?

I note that the minister made mention of the new consulate in China. Did the department recommend a number of possible locations for a new consulate in China? What was the department's preferred location? Did the former foreign minister ever express his preference for the new consulate to be situated in Chongqing? If so, what were his reasons for selecting Chongqing as opposed to Chengdu or other locations?

Has the Australian government implemented all United Nations sanctions on Iran? Are the Australian government's actions in relation to the implementation of UN sanctions consistent with the actions of, for example, the United States and the European Union? What is the Australian government's official position towards Iran? Does the government believe that military action should be 'taken off the table'?

Has the United States embassy or the United States government and its officials raised the question of cuts to the Australian defence budget? If so, when and where did this take place and at what level did this representation occur?

Going to the minister's own portfolio, could the minister provide the current status of the Australia-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Agreement negotiations and the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement? When was the last pre-negotiation consultation with Indonesia held? Have any pre-negotiation consultations been held since the Australian government announced its ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia? Could the minister also provide details of the Australia-Japan Free Trade Agreement, the Australia-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, PACER Plus and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement? What positions has Australian taken during trade negotiations in relation to tariff reductions? Has Australia sought tariff reductions? What are the scale of those reductions? Has Australia sought zero tariffs during some negotiations? If so, for which commodities, and which countries have been asked to consider zero tariffs on Australian exports?

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