Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

The government opposes this amendment. The Hong Kong government has signed and ratified the agreement in good faith, and it's in our interest to do the same. Hong Kong is our eighth-largest export market for goods and services. Given that we have FTAs with seven of our top 10 export markets for goods and services, ratifying the HKFTA is a top priority and makes sense. Having FTAs in place with both Hong Kong and China allows Australia to advance economic and trade interests in both jurisdictions and supports the 'one country; two systems' framework which has underpinned Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and business confidence.

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