Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Braddon for his question. The China free trade agreement abolishes taxes on Australian exports. I say again: the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement abolishes taxes on Australian exports. That is what it does.

Of course, we can do everything we can here to abolish taxes on Australian produce. We got rid of Labor's carbon tax. We got rid of Labor's mining tax. We got rid of the tax Labor was going to apply to the manufacturing of motor vehicles. We got of a Labor Party bank deposit tax. And I can report to the House that today the Senate passed legislation to get rid of the Leader of the Opposition's piggybank tax—so another Labor tax out the door. But the only way we can get rid of the taxes that are applied by other countries to our produce is to enter into free trade agreements.

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement abolishes up to 15 per cent tax on milk products produced in Australia. I can say to you, Prime Minister and colleagues, that we are two weeks away from the seventh anniversary of the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement. When New Zealand entered into that free trade agreement with China seven years ago, the tax on New Zealand milk exports was 15 per cent. Today it is 2½ per cent. Today the milk exports that we are sending to China have taxes up to 15 per cent.

Now, what does that mean? In Tasmania, in the electorate of the member for Braddon, there are 433 dairy farms employing 3,000 people, and they receive $400 million in revenue. They are three major processing plants, including the Lion processing plant in Burnie. That Lion processing plant in Burnie employs 300 people. It is a new investment of $200 million, and it is running 50 per cent under capacity. So, by the Chinese removing the 12 per cent tax on cheese exports, we can create jobs in Burnie. We can create jobs in Tasmania. We can create jobs right across Australia. The benefit flows through to everyone, not just the people in the advanced manufacturing. It flows through to the farmers. It flows through to logistics. It flows through to every single part of the economy. That is the benefit of the free trade agreement with China. We are standing up for well-paid jobs in Australia, and it is in stark contrast to the Labor Party, which is just a mouthpiece for a radical union.

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