Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the hard work of the Government to bring the free trade agreement with the United Kingdom into force on 1 June 2023;

(2) welcomes the successful resumption of tariff-free sugar exports to the United Kingdom for the first time in 50 years, with the first shipment arriving in London from Queensland on 6 September 2023;

(3) recognises that as a trading nation Australia's prosperity is linked to open international markets, with trade contributing 29 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product and supporting one in four Australian jobs; and

(4) notes jobs in export industries pay five per cent above the national average income.

I'm pleased to move this motion. Australia's free trade agreement with the United Kingdom is one of our most comprehensive, innovative and ambitious trade agreements, and it has ushered in a new era in our economic relationship with the UK. The United Kingdom is one of Australia's major trading partners, with two-way trade worth $10 billion in 2022 and two-way services trade worth over $11 billion in 2021-22, making it our second-largest services trading partner.

Under this agreement, over 99 per cent of Australia's products will enter the United Kingdom duty free, and these include some of our key exports such as wine, rice, sugar, honey, nuts, olive oil and food supplements. The UK tariffs on Australia industrial goods are eliminated, including on auto parts, electrical and fashion items. Australia's agricultural products will have duty-free transition quotas, with the eventual elimination of all tariffs, and this includes on beef and sheep meat, and sugar and dairy products. For Australian consumers, tariffs on 98 per cent of UK imports to Australia are eliminated, with the rest to be removed within six years. By reducing tariffs, the agreement is increasing the choice of everyday household items and driving down the cost-of-living pressures, and that's passed on to consumers both in Australia and in the UK. This trade agreement makes it easier and cheaper for Australian businesses to export our homegrown products to the UK. In the first month that the trade agreement entered into force, Australia's exports to the United Kingdom increased by almost 200 per cent from the same time last year. After a short transition period, all of Australia's imports from the UK will be tariff free.

In 1879, during colonial times, the first ever export of frozen red meat travelled from Australia to the United Kingdom—obviously by boat. Since then our global red meat exports have grown to nearly A$14 billion per year. Under this trade agreement, increasing volumes of Australian red meat can be exported to the UK tariff free, and this will see us grow the value of Australian red meat by exporting it to where the demand is, making it more affordable for people in the UK to buy Australia's high-quality meat product.

Recently, in my electorate of Blair, JBS Australia announced it would create 500 new jobs at its Dinmore processing facility to support local employment and increased demand for Aussie beef. JBS Dinmore is one of the leading exporters of red meat in the country, with approximately 10 per cent of Australia's total beef processing capacity. It produces a wide range of beef brands that are supplied to overseas markets. JBS Dinmore, in my electorate, stands to benefit from this deal.

The removal of tariffs on sugar reopens what was a thriving market for us before the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973. When I was in the UK a few years ago they were very keen, in the post-Brexit era, to return to their old friends, including Australia.

It's not just tariffs that are removed under this agreement. This agreement makes it easier for Australian professionals, service providers and investors to do business in the UK market. Australian businesses can access skilled workers from the UK, including innovators and early career professionals, to meet local demand, thanks to new mobility pathways. The agreement strengthens our people-to-people links with the UK. Australian professionals will have the same access to UK job markets as nationals from the European Union, except those from Ireland. This agreement includes measures designed to improve the mobility of skilled workers and young people in both directions. From 31 January next year, Australians up to the age of 35—up from the current age of 30—will be able to apply for working holidays in the UK and stay for a maximum of three years instead of two.

Australia's financial services sector stands to benefit from preferential access to the UK's vibrant fintech ecosystem. Under this trade agreement the removal of localised data-hosting requirements is a game changer which will allow businesses to plan their growth, knowing they can collect, process and transfer data between the UK and Australia without facing unnecessary hurdles.

It's not just through the bottom line that Australia and the UK benefit from this agreement; it's also through the exchange and transfer of world-class skills, ideas, innovations and inventions, which will make our lives better. The implementation of this trade diversification agenda under Minister Don Farrell is a very important one, and I commend him for his work, particularly the work in the EU.

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