Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I'll just have to pick up on the previous speaker's conclusion there because this wonderful UK-Australia free trade agreement was negotiated and signed by the previous government! I had the great honour of being Australia's trade minister at that time, and it's why I was very keen to speak on this motion. The member for Blair may or may not be aware that when we were negotiating this free trade agreement I went to the Tate and Lyle Sugar factory, which is on the Thames. In the very early seventies or late sixties, sugar boats used to sail from Australia. They would sail up the Thames and drop the sugar off there. It would then be manufactured by Tate and Lyle into golden syrup and other things.

When the UK went into the EU that all stopped. One of the things I was very determined to do in negotiating the agreement was to make sure that we got an outcome on sugar. I particularly want to thank Australia's High Commissioner at the time, George Brandis, a Queenslander, who was also very determined to get an outcome on sugar. We were able to get a fantastic outcome on sugar, and my hope is that we will all be able to celebrate when that boat arrives, goes up the Thames and delivers sugar back to Tate and Lyle again. It will be a fantastic outcome for Australia because it will give us diversity in markets; that's what free-trade agreements are all about.

The great thing about the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement is that it's the most comprehensive free trade agreement we've done outside the one we've got with New Zealand, which has closer economic relations and is the global gold standard when it comes to free trade agreements. The Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement is as good as the New Zealand one in almost all aspects but isn't quite as comprehensive. Hopefully, over time we might be able to continue to negotiate to add to it even more.

What we were able to do in the UK free trade agreement was deliver greater access not only when it comes to sugar but also right across the board: lamb, beef, dairy—you name it. It is the most comprehensive agricultural access that we've got in any agreement since the one we negotiated with New Zealand. One of the great things about a charity run I just did to raise awareness for a disease called CJD—along with 11 other runners, I ran from Canberra to Warrnambool, over 950 kilometres. Along the way, we went through the heartland of rural Australia, including along the Murray, where we bumped into some citrus growers. It was fantastic to hear about the first shipment of oranges that will be going to the UK since the early seventies. Not only have we managed to get sugar back into the UK market; we're also getting citrus back to the UK market as well as our beef, lamb, dairy products and wine. All these things have benefited, and regional and rural Australia, where one in four jobs come as a result of trade, has particularly benefited from this outcome.

I will draw on some remarks that were made by the shadow minister for trade which I think were important remarks for all of us to remember. Currently the new government is negotiating the Australia-EU free trade agreement. We did 12 rounds of that when we were in government. We were setting it up for a big finish, and now the baton has been passed to the new government to conclude. One of the keys to that agreement is that we have to get access for agricultural producers from that agreement, because you only get one chance in a free trade agreement to get your ag sector looked after. The World Trade Organisation has great difficulties getting an outcome for agriculture, so we have to do it in free trade agreements. We did it in this agreement, and that's why we're here celebrating what we've been able to do on sugar, but, when it comes to the EU agreement, we've got to make sure we can get exactly the same agricultural outcomes.

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