Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the Queensland Government for its statement: 'the State Government would no longer be constrained or bound by free trade agreements';

(2) notes that:

(a) Australia's trade agreements guarantee Queensland businesses preferential access to Chile, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States markets;

(b) Queensland's exports were worth $62.6 billion to the state's economy in 2015-16;

(c) in April 2017, the Queensland Treasurer stated: 'one in five jobs in our state relies on our export performance'; and

(d) the Queensland Government's decision to not abide by its international commitments threatens the access Queensland exporters have to international markets and the jobs that rely on them; and

(3) calls on the Queensland Government to honour its commitments and abandon its anti-trade position to ensure that Queensland export businesses do not lose access to these crucial global markets.

Populism is on the march again around the world and, indeed, in Australia, and it seems the Labor Party in Queensland is very happy to engage in it with the state election just around the corner. Populism is shorthand for protectionism—the antitheses of trade. Our country is our sanctuary, yet we should never be isolationist or inward looking. We should be wary of those who want to again put up the walls, either metaphorical or physical, between nations and people. We should never, ever forget that, over the history of humankind, every sustainable gain in our standard of living has come about from skills, specialisation and trade. The benefits of free trade should need no introduction, yet it seems we need to reiterate the value of trade at every possible opportunity, even if it is just for the benefit of those opposite.

Trade promotes peace. It creates jobs. It stokes investment. It breaks down borders and misunderstanding, and, most importantly, it brings prosperity—sustainable prosperity. Over half a billion people in the Asia-Pacific region have been raised out of abject poverty in recent years, almost entirely as a result of the benefits of trading. Yet, in my home state of Queensland, Labor seems blind not only to the economic history but even to the part of economic history that we're currently living in. In a press release just last month, the Queensland Labor Premier said:

In an Australian first, Cabinet agreed the State Government would no longer be constrained or bound by free trade agreements …

Even worse, in correspondence, the Queensland Labor Minister for Housing and Public Works said:

… we're breaking the Turnbull LNP Government's trade agreements, and they aren't happy. But I couldn't give a toss.

Probably most telling, though, is the way that the Labor Premier is repeatedly quoted, in The Courier Mail, stating that trade doesn't make sense.

Even by Labor's new standards, these statements are a troubling indication of the direction of their party and their policies. Yet, the hypocrisy! The very day before the Labor Premier declared that her government would no longer be bound by these free trade agreements, the Premier wrote to the federal trade minister and said, 'The Queensland government works very closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to promote free trade agreements to benefit Queensland.' Last year, the Premier wrote to Minister Ciobo, wanting the Queensland government to be bound by the revised Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement. And that seems to be the track record: every commitment on every government procurement decision Australia has ever made and every free trade agreement involving Queensland has been made with the strong written support of the Queensland government. Barefaced political hypocrisy! It's another case of Labor saying one thing in Brisbane city, when they're talking to other governments or exporters, or in the boardrooms, and quite another thing when they're talking to suburban and regional voters and fishing for populist votes.

That sort of hypocrisy doesn't go unnoticed. I can report that two of our major trading partners have raised the matter with the Australian government. The New Zealand trade minister has said publically:

… it's not how trade works — it's a little bit crazy …

The New Zealand government, in the strongest possible terms, has expressed its concern about the developments in Queensland.

Labor don't seem to understand how prosperity is generated; they don't seem to understand trade. They may think that populism might win them a few votes, but let's consider what that policy would cost Queenslanders. Queensland makes more from exporting than it pays in importing. Every Queenslander's prosperity is underpinned by competitive export industries, tapping into huge export markets and potential, particularly across the Asia-Pacific region we're in. Exports are worth well over $60 billion a year and are growing at about three times the rate of the economy as a whole. More than 60 per cent of Queensland's exports go to countries with which Australia has a free trade agreement, and about half a million jobs in Queensland are supported by free trade. I'm happy to quote the Queensland Treasurer himself:

We estimate one in five jobs in Queensland are supported through trade …

The decision by the state Labor government to act in a way that is inconsistent with Australia's free trade agreements puts at risk the very export opportunities that we have in front of us. For the sake of our exporters—indeed, for all Queenslanders—Labor need to abandon their ludicrous policy. Dusting off the old red megaphone of populism might give a good airing to some grievances, but Queensland Labor do not have the answers that Queenslanders deserve.

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