Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's Report 183: report of the committee visit to India and Indonesia.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—This report gives an account of the visit by a delegation of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to India and Indonesia in August, under the program of committee visits to the Asia-Pacific region. In its letter requesting the visit, the committee noted that Australia is currently negotiating trade agreements with both India and Indonesia. As a result, JSCOT believed the delegation would enhance its ability to examine these treaties—and other trade agreements—in any future inquiry.

Over the 22 years of JSCOT's operation, several themes have emerged from inquires into trade and economic cooperation agreements.

The aims and objectives of the delegation were: to inquire into the challenges and rewards of Australian businesses accessing, or attempting to access, the Indian and Indonesian markets; to examine the broader economic context of both India and Indonesia, including opportunities for Australia's further investment and trade; to obtain detailed information on the perspectives of both the Indian and Indonesian executive governments; to examine the mechanisms for parliamentary oversight of treaties, trade and foreign affairs; to identify successful examples of Australian businesses in Indonesia and Indian markets; and to ascertain the factors or criteria that contributed to their success. Discussions were had while we were there with a broad range of government, parliamentary, local and Australian businesses, and these gave the delegation a very nuanced picture of the trade and investment relationships in both countries.

The delegation expected India to be multifaceted and complex. Even so, the delegation was struck by the sheer scale of the Indian economy, by the complicated regulatory environment and by the cultural and economic differences across the states. This complicated political and economic environment underpinned everything that we, as the delegation, saw and heard, and explains that this complexity requires a careful process of negotiation. The delegation really saw that the opportunities in India for mutual benefit are great and growing, and JSCOT now has a much better understanding of both the trade agreement process and the steps that will be required for Australian businesses to really take full advantage of the opportunities in India.

In Indonesia, we had the opportunity to gain a different perspective on Australia's international trade relationships. We are really pleased to see that since the visit Australia and Indonesia have successfully concluded negotiations on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. It's clear that there is potential to strengthen our economic and security cooperation with one of our major trading partners, that being of course, Indonesia. It is a country that has tremendous potential for economic growth, and the delegation was particularly pleased to meet with New Colombo Plan scholars and to see the growth of person-to-person—people-to-people—contacts and links to match our already strong links in security, tourism and education in Indonesia.

The delegation would like to thank DFAT officers for what was exceptional support provided by them in each location—a great program—and to thank everyone who made the time to meet the delegation with the warm hospitality the delegation was shown on so many occasions. We appreciated not only the expertise but the exceptional candour and frank assessments of everyone who we spoke to and who spoke to us. I want to acknowledge all the members of the delegation for their time and effort, and thank them for all the time they put into this particular delegation. I want to thank the then chair and also the secretary, Lynley Ducker, for her outstanding efforts during this delegation.

It really was a great privilege for the delegation to travel and engage at a personal level with a wide variety of people and organisations. We not only heard about India and Indonesia but also had the opportunity to explain the parliamentary role and the important oversight that is conducted by JSCOT. I thank the House.

See this speech in context