Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short but meaningful statement on the report.

Leave granted.

I'd like to start by acknowledging the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, who's here today, and the fantastic secretariat for their awesome support through this whole process.

The ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area agreement was signed in February 2009 and entered into force for Australia in January 2010. The original treaty provided for extensive tariff reduction and greater certainty for service suppliers and investors. It is considered ASEAN's highest-quality free trade agreement in terms of market access for goods trade. The treaty action in question in this report is the AANZFTA second protocol, which provides broader coverage through new provisions on services and investments, new digital trade data rules and, for the first time, cooperation in the areas of environment, labour rights and women's economic empowerment. This was signed in August last year.

I would like to note in particular the new chapter on micro, small and medium enterprises, providing for the promotion of information sharing and cooperation among parties to enhance opportunities for these small businesses. Small business is the engine room of our economy, and easy access to international markets in our region can only be a good thing. Our inquiry heard from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade:

The agreement has made a significant contribution to our collective prosperity and has provided certainty and market access to Australian businesses … ASEAN is Australia's second largest two-way trading partner bloc, behind only the European Union, with total two-way trade of $178 billion in 2022.

We did hear some concerns regarding the investor-state dispute settlement, or ISDS. DFAT told the committee that one of the positive developments from the upgrade under the second protocol was an agreement that Australia would review those ISDS provisions 18 months after entry into force. The committee agrees these should be reviewed in agreements where they already exist, and we'll be seeking an update on the progress of this review work from the department.

I thank all those involved in the hearings, and I thank the secretariat, of course, for their assistance. I commend the report to the House.

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