Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024. This protocol upgrade is modernising the agreement to better align it with the digitised world that we now live in. Protocol adjustments are done on a timeline. It's very appropriate that we do this with FTAs. Every five years or so, we look at the agreement and look at how we can modernise the agreement to upgrade it to make sure it's taking into account new technologies and new things that might be happening in the trading world.

This agreement is going to mean that ASEAN has the highest quality FTA with its partners. It has eliminated tariffs on 96 per cent of Australian exports to South-East Asian markets. We know that ASEAN as a bloc is going to become, by any measure, the fourth-largest trading bloc in the world over the next number of years. They're our neighbours and a very exciting part of the world.

There are upgrades across several areas to ensure the FTA retains its relevance and adds value to developments across the frameworks, including the RCEP. The RCEP itself was signed by the coalition government on 15 November 2020. Was that you, Member for Wannon, who did that?

See this speech in context