Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises:

(a) the importance of Australia's Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), which now include nations in three continents—North America, South America and Asia;

(b) Australia's three most recent FTAs negotiated and signed in 2014 with Japan, South Korea and China and the positive security, stability and economic prosperity which will result from each of these mutually constructive agreements;

(c) the Government's intention to continue to enhance current and future trade and investment opportunities for the long term advantage of all Australian citizens; and

(d) the significant personal contribution made by the Minister for Trade and Investment in securing FTAs with Japan, South Korea and China in 2014;

(2) acknowledges the following advantages of FTAs to Australia as being:

(a) removing potentially billions of dollars of tariff imposts for foreign produced consumer goods (including, clothes, shoes, car components, cars and electronics);

(b) enhancing capital flows into Australian agriculture, finance, tourism, infrastructure and mining as a result of streamlined approval procedures for foreign state owned investors;

(c) improving primary agriculture, particularly dairy, beef, lamb, wine and horticulture as a result of overseas tariffs being phased out over time;

(d) streamlining licensing and reducing restrictions on Australian services firms, including banks, insurance companies, financial fund managers, as well as law, architecture and engineering firms; and

(e) providing cheaper and more streamlined visa approval procedures, making it easier to undertake reciprocal travel, work and study in Australia and relevant trade partner nations; and

(3) notes the continuing importance of trade between nations and of Australian formal FTAs in supporting both global and regional stability, as well as Australian long term economic prosperity, all of which are emphasised by Australia's unique geopolitics.

I welcome this opportunity to highlight the trifecta of mutually beneficial free trade agreements concluded by the Abbott government. I also acknowledge the extraordinary effort, persistence, diplomacy and sheer hard work of our trade minister, Andrew Robb, who delivered what many said was not possible—three free trade deals with Japan, South Korea and China in the last year. Minister Robb deserves our thanks and the thanks of our country for so quickly enhancing our trade opportunities, which will underpin our future prosperity for decades.

These free trade deals mean new markets, new investments and more jobs across the entire economy. Opportunity is on our doorstep to grasp. As the world's attention and investment dollars increasingly focus on Asia as the key driver of global prosperity, Australia is perfectly positioned. When you consider that the middle class from India to Asia, which is currently around 500 million people, is projected to grow to 1.7 billion people in the next 15 years you get some sense of how the demand for clean, green, quality fresh products will grow exponentially over time. And we are well placed to benefit. We are sitting astride the Indian and Pacific oceans adjacent to that unfolding economic miracle—that tripling of people rising out of poverty and into the middle classes—and we are benefiting from the trade diversification across three continents because our free trade deals encompass agreements across North America, South America and Asia.

The free trade deals already concluded and those yet to come will certainly enhance our economic security. The advantages are both tactical and strategic. I have heard many of my colleagues discuss examples where the removal of tariffs has meant more exports and substantial increases in prices. In my own electorate of Bass the Treasurer visited just a few weeks ago and met a commercial fisherman called Karl Krause. Karl was able to tell the Treasurer that 18 months ago he was getting about $60 a kilo for his premium crayfish; now, after these three free trade deals, he gets around $100 a kilo—a substantial increase in price. And Karl told the Treasurer he was investing more in his business because higher demand and better returns incentivise that investment.

Last Thursday in Launceston I welcomed a Chinese delegation led by Chairman Wang Xing De. They were visiting Bellamy's Organic, which has made enormous inroads into the Chinese market with its premium infant formula and toddlers milk. It is fair to say that the Chinese delegation was enormously impressed by the opportunities for value-added food products that Tasmania offers, and many new ideas were sparked about other trade opportunities. Exports of cherries to China have lifted 114 per cent since these three free trade deals came into being, with Tasmania's Reid Fruits exports of cherries going from five tonnes to almost 200 tonnes under the new free trade deals.

Greater trade means enhanced capital flows into Australian agriculture, finance, tourism, infrastructure and mining. The government is also working to ensure that we streamline approval processes for that investment. A good example is our establishment of the Major Projects Approval Agency in Launceston in July last year. The Hodgman government on coming to power has co-located its coordinator-general in the same office. So what you get is working across both state and federal jurisdictions to make sure that we remove as much as possible any obstacles to investment.

In Tasmania we have also backed worthy projects that will help us produce more for growing regional markets. That includes investment in the second tranche of irrigation schemes in Tasmania—$60 million worth of new federal investment, $30 million worth of Tasmanian government investment and $30 million from private investment. That will deliver approximately 40,000 additional megalitres of water at 95 per cent reliability in the locations of those projects. The scheme will support viticulture, grazing, irrigated cropping and walnut enterprises, to name just a few. This investment will allow us to tap into improved export conditions for primary agricultural goods, including dairy, beef, lamb, wine and horticulture, as a result of overseas tariffs being phased out over time.

In conclusion I reiterate the continuing importance of trade between nations in general and under Australia's free trade agreements in particular. This important economic interaction underpins our security on so many levels and supports Australia's long-term economic prosperity.

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