Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a pleasure to speak on these two bills, the Customs Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2021, which effectively cover the RCEP agreement. When I looked at the speakers' list, I saw that most of the speakers represent regional areas. They might ask why somebody from an outer suburban seat is speaking on these bills. The reason is that, like many in this chamber, I have businesses in my electorate that export goods across the world, including many that export goods to Asian countries. I was interested in the comment that the member for Fremantle made around the veracity of agreements when governments of other persuasions decide to do something that doesn't honour the agreement, particularly in reference to China over the past couple of years. Like any agreement, it's only as good as the willingness of all the participants in that agreement to honour what's in that agreement. We've got to work very hard to ensure that we maintain those relationships and keep working on these agreements. They're not something that we can put on a shelf and say, 'Yes, that's done and that's all we're going to do with it.' They need to be continually worked on, reviewed and built upon. I recognise, as the member for Fremantle and others have observed in this debate, that we already have a range of agreements with countries across Asia. In building on those agreements or, sadly, adding to the complexity of some of them, our businesses need to make decisions as to how they're going to approach those markets. It's still important that we look to engage with these countries as groups to build a framework that seeks to broaden the agreement across a wide range of countries where we're all working together for an economic outcome not only for Australia, which is obviously our interest. Equally, we want to see Asia continue to grow, prosper and develop because we know that, as the Asian middle class continues to grow, prosper and develop, there are very significant opportunities for Australian business.

Over the past five, 10 and 15 years businesses in my electorate, such as Frosty Boy and Teys abattoirs, have made inroads into Asia. They're doing stuff in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, China and other countries. Companies like that have put time and effort into developing those markets. I hope this agreement reinforces the investment they have made already in Asia and gives them confidence to build on it and grow.

I look at this agreement and the opportunities it provides. As the member for Fremantle has outlined, it doesn't really add a lot to what we've already got in a range of bilateral agreements, but, as I said, I believe it builds an additional level of confidence in those markets and across the region. As we move forward with this we need to encourage our local businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that agreements like this present.

Several years ago I was on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. We held an inquiry into how we encourage small- to medium-sized businesses to dip their toe into export markets. I talk to businesses in my electorate that are exporting. Traditionally they are larger businesses that have the resources, the capital and the connections, or the ability to build connections, across the region to enter these export markets. We need to work with our small- to medium-sized businesses and encourage them to build export capacity. With these agreements I would like to see some more discussion on how we generate that. I am not convinced how well that is considered in the development of agreements. I hope that this agreement provides an opportunity for us to have a discussion with our small- to medium-sized businesses and encourage them to step into that export market and take advantage of the opportunities that arise because they're presently not in the market.

I agree with the member for Fremantle's comments that big businesses are already in that space and there probably isn't a huge amount of value to them in this agreement. But for our small- to medium-sized business there may well be opportunities that don't presently exist. I will spend some time exploring that in my discussions with my local business community, such as the plastic manufacturers that are developing new products for the agricultural sector. I have a plastics business that has developed a specific injector for avocado trees. That might be applicable to other crops grown across Asia. They are developing other products with biodegradable plastics.

We've now seen some technology developed around waste recycling. BlockTexx have developed a special process to break down linen and towels into their constituent elements and resells those to be put back into the supply chain. We know that waste is a significant issue and that the recycling and reprocessing of waste is an immature industry, not just in Australia but across our region, so how do we use that opportunity to bring the technology we're developing here in Australia into those markets in Asia as a result of this agreement?

I commend the government for the work that it's done to get this agreement to completion and I recognise that it was started under a previous Labor government, back in 2012. But any of these agreements create opportunities for our business sector and give them the confidence to dip their toe into export markets where they previously hadn't done so. That's certainly part of the discussion I'm having with my business sector. It is an enormous market opportunity for us. Far too often I think our business community looks to the US or to Europe, and maybe, in reality, we were focused on China for far too long as a single market, but there are other opportunities right across the region.

As a result of this agreement, we've now got opportunities in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, the People's Republic of China, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea. It is another piece in our trade puzzle that should encourage small- to medium-sized businesses to look to export as a way to grow their business. As a result of this, we also need to look at how we can assist small- to medium-sized businesses to access those markets and give them the opportunity to access the capital needed and the people with the skills and the ability to help them engage in these markets, but this is a great step in that direction. I commend the bills to the House.

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