Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my colleague from the shire. Like me, he is optimistic about many things. We are both optimistic about a great turn of the Sharks over the Rabbits over the weekend. But we are also optimistic about the tremendous free trade agreement, the China export agreement, which is a visionary document.

It is visionary because Australia is not alone when it comes to having an ageing population: 8½ per cent of the Chinese population is currently aged over 65. By 2050, almost 24 per cent of the Chinese population will be over the age of 65. That will actually be more than in this country. There are now around 23 million people in China aged over 80—that is almost the population of this country—and by 2050 it will be more than 90 million. This is a visionary document which put into the agreement that Australian service suppliers can establish profit-making aged-care institutions throughout China. For the information of the Leader of the Opposition, that is a service that we were not selling before and which can be achieved by a free trade agreement, an export agreement, with China.

We are well positioned to capitalise on the China ageing boom—just like we have here. In this country we have the facilities, the expertise and the experience. We have the ability to deliver services to multicultural communities, particularly Chinese communities, here in Australia. And our providers are ready to sell. They are ready to sell—whether it is our educational institutions selling training services; whether it is architects; the development of facilities; they can sell those services into China; whether it is those who are planning the facilities. These are the opportunities that are realised by this visionary document.

It has been described by the aged-care sector as a massive opportunity. So why, when there is such a massive opportunity, would someone want to stand in the way of our aged-care service providers and associated industries taking advantage of this massive ageing boom in China? I will tell you who stands in the way. It is the Leader of the Opposition and those opposite. And they do so at the behest of the trade union movement.

This Leader of the Opposition uses the trade union movement like an ATM. He uses it to fund their policies, to fund their initiatives, and to fund their campaigns. He is the trade union's muppet, who will go to their call on every single occasion—

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