Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

It has been just over one year since the Albanese Labor government was sworn into office. We've been getting to work, repairing our global reputation and diversifying our trade. While we've seen good progress, we continue to operate in a challenging global environment, but more trade, not less, is a key part of how we build the secure and stable economic future we all want. More trade means more well-paying jobs, more national income and more opportunities for businesses and workers. Trade helps enable the economic strength and resilience that, alongside defence and diplomacy, are central to our national power.

In March this year Australia recorded a $15 billion trade surplus. A trade surplus means Australian exporters are doing well, and when exporters do well, so does our budget. Our decision to return 80 per cent of revenue upgrades, including those from strong export earnings, back to the budget helps us pay back the trillion dollars of debt we inherited from the coalition.

Trade translates into jobs. One in four Australian jobs is connected to trade. The pandemic restrictions demonstrated that the movement of people holds the same strategic and economic value as a movement of goods and services. That's why in tourism, one of our largest services exports pre-COVID, we're supporting the return of international visitors. The government continues to invest in a range of initiatives that will support the sustainable growth of the visitor economy. The budget included more than $260 million of new funding in our iconic national parks, such as Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta, to support tourism, conservation and cultural heritage activities; up to $3.4 billion over 10 years of investment in world-class infrastructure for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games; and a $535 million investment in our national collecting institutions, strengthening Australia's cultural infrastructure, which is a key pillar of the government's new cultural policy. We're also providing an additional $204 million to the Great Barrier Reef, delivering on our election commitment to spend a record $1.2 billion to protect, manage and restore the reef in Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia's top tourist destinations, which is why, as part of our record investment, we have launched the $15.1 million Great Barrier Reef Tourism Reef Protection Initiative. These are just some of the measures in the 2023-24 budget that will support tourism and the attractions and events that bring international visitors to our shores. Of course, we're continuing to deliver the $48 million package announced in the October 2022 budget, which is designed to help bring international visitors back, strengthen the industry workforce and support quality tourism products.

Over the years ahead, we know that international trade, including our visitor economy, must continue to be a driver of Australian prosperity. Our government is working hard to share the benefits of that prosperity as widely as possible through the community. One of our biggest priorities has been to stabilise our relationship with China, Australia's largest trading partner. We want a stable and prosperous trading relationship and the full resumption of trade. Visits to China by the Prime Minister, followed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Trade and Tourism, are showing promising signs of progress. Australia and China have agreed to step up dialogue under our existing free trade agreement to resolve the outstanding trade impediments. China recently announced it would resume imports of Australian timber, as well as stone fruit. That follows positive developments in coal, cotton, and copper ores and concentrates. We want to see all remaining trade impediments removed as soon as possible. As a Western Australian, that is also very important for the people who fish for crayfish off the coast of Western Australia.

At the same time, overreliance on any single trading partner comes with risks, so our government is actively pursuing a trade diversification agenda, including by entering new and comprehensive free trade agreements. Just last month the Australia-UK FTA entered into force, with 99 per cent of Australian goods now entering the UK completely tariff free. Negotiations are moving swiftly to boost our trade agreement with India, the largest growing economy in the world, with a market of 1.4 billion people. And the Minister for Trade and Tourism has just returned from Europe following intensive negotiations on the Australia-Europe free trade agreement. This new trade deal means growth, investment, jobs and higher wages.

We're also deepening our engagement with South-East Asia, including through our Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040. We've also committed $31.9 million in developing the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. That will include key trade and economic partners across seven ASEAN nations, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Fiji and the United States. It's a very important initiative and will help advance Australia's trade and economic interests, including in digital and green trade and strengthening regional supply chains. IPEF is important to Australia's geo-economic interests and the key trade and economic agreement that will bring the United States well back into the Indo-Pacific region. We are a safe, reliable and trusted trade partner.

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