Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

In speaking to this legislation, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Legislation Amendment Bill 2015, the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Fees Imposition Bill 2015 and the Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Bill 2015, could I compliment the member for Robertson on her presentation here this evening and endorse, 110 per cent, the comments about the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. It is going to dramatically improve our ability to access a market of 1.35 billion people. It is the best deal that China has ever done with any country. It is the best deal that Australia has done with any country. And it will set Australia up for the prosperity and the jobs that people in Australia should expect, given the growth and the tremendous opportunities that are emerging on our doorstep.

I am pleased to speak on this legislation because I am the minister for both trade and investment, and, of course, foreign investment is a fundamental part of Australia's economic lifeblood. For all of our settled existence since the first arrival of boats, we have relied on foreign investment. As a country, we have thin capital markets. The great quality of life that we enjoy as Australians has been inextricably linked to the different waves of foreign investment which we have enjoyed over 200 years and which have in so many ways maintained the quality of our infrastructure and innovation and produced the capital which we have invariably not had. Foreign investment has produced the capital to continue to maintain our industries, our logistics sectors and all of those services areas at a level which is world class. That means that we maintain our competitive position, and it is one of the major reasons that over the last 25 years Australia has enjoyed uninterrupted economic growth, when so much of the developed world has been on its knees at different times during that last quarter of a century. There has been a quarter of a century of uninterrupted economic growth, and it owes so much to the fact that we have such an open economy.

The legislation introduced by the Treasurer to modernise and improve our foreign investment regime fulfils an important election commitment. Foreign investment, the injection of new money into our economy, allows us to grow by directly creating new jobs and driving up our living standards. The government knows that foreign investment is integral to Australia's economy. The ability of our businesses and industries to attract foreign investment will continue to support growth in our economy into the future. It will continue to be an important driver of productivity, growth and the creation of jobs and wealth. I recall Vesteys in the north. Foreign investment from Vesteys developed much of the early infrastructure, the cattle yards, the abattoirs and the roads that were built in many areas.

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