Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker, Assistant Trade and Investment Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I will just briefly comment on the contribution of the shadow minister. Trade is an issue that needs to be treated in a bipartisan way. I am certainly looking forward to the cooperation of the shadow minister on the three agreements that will be coming up soon before the House: the free trade agreement with Indonesia, the free trade agreement with Hong Kong and the free trade agreement with Peru. It would be good if the shadow minister were taking some notice of this—I am answering the questions she put to me. With the signing of the agreements over the last couple of years, the trade agenda of this government has certainly had benefits for Australia. I look forward to the cooperation of the Labor Party in ensuring that the three agreements before us now are ratified by this parliament in order to ensure that we can get the benefit that will flow from having a free trade agreement with Indonesia, our closest neighbour to the north, with its large population. Australian exporters are looking forward to the benefits that will flow from that agreement, as with the Hong Kong and Peru agreements. This government has a strong agenda on free trade. We have been successful in signing agreements and we look forward to the ones before us. We also look to the EU and obviously we're watching very closely what happens to Brexit. We have officials on the ground to make sure that Australia can react as quickly as it can to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. The member for Spence might have to pick up on his diplomatic skills as he heads to the UN! This government has a proud record on free trade. We look forward to the agreements before us.

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