Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Competitiveness) Share this | Hansard source

I certainly thank the member for Moreton for his question. In fact, my heart was all aflutter when the shadow trade minister and Deputy Leader of the Opposition rose, because I thought I might get a question from the coalition on trade matters. But, alas, it has been 760 days since I have had a question—in fact, I never have. It makes the member for Moncrieff look like an incessant questioner. I thank indeed the member for Moreton for his question, because the Gillard government is rising to the challenge of the Asian century.

There are marvellous opportunities being generated from our participation in growth in the Asian century. We are doing this through, in the business area, a number of initiatives, bringing together the various instruments within the trade portfolio, such as the resources of Austrade, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation and, indeed, the Export Market Development Grants Scheme, to concentrate on those frontier and emerging markets where we see these opportunities opening up—markets such as China, of course, Indonesia, India, Mongolia, Kazakhstan.

We have also announced a $6 million business engagement plan. This is designed to ensure that our business organisations, those bilateral organisations, have some extra support to take business missions to these countries, to develop what ultimately is the most important feature of engagement in the Asian century—and that is the people-to-people links. We can do as much economic modelling as we want, but ultimately relations with the communities in Asia depend on those cultural, economic and sporting links, and that is what we seek to build. So this is the sort of vision, of course, that we are unveiling through the Asian century white paper.

It does, of course, stand in contrast. I thought that we might get some questions on the Asian century white paper. Unfortunately, we have still got one-trick Tony. He cannot change his habits. He is old one-trick Tony, and he is running fast out of puff. He is running fast but he is running out of puff. He is running out of puff because this opposition knows nothing other than to oppose, to say no. And one-trick Tony is out of puff.

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