Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Will the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House how the free trade agreement with the United States is helping Australians who want to work in the United States?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar for her question. It is a very important question, because the free trade agreement that we negotiated with the United States was about not just the sale of agricultural products and commodities and industrial goods into the United States but also getting access to the United States for our service providers and our professionals. One of the most important things that we were able to achieve, which came through last year, was the establishment of the Australia-only E-3 visa—something we discussed during the negotiations which came through afterwards. It was part of the ongoing work that came out of the United States free trade agreement. This is a visa that allows 10,000 Australians to go and work in the United States every year. This was a significant outcome for Australian service providers, Australian professionals and Australian businesses operating in the United States.

Today I am able to announce that Australian certified practising accountants can now apply for a licence to work in 39 US states without having to do any extra study. Their Australian qualifications have been recognised in 39 states of the United States. This is good news for Australian accountants. It is good news for Australian companies that have business operations and want to use Australian CPAs in their US operations. Our lawyers and engineers are also currently meeting with their US counterparts to harmonise the mutual recognition of qualifications across the Pacific. This is a very important outcome that we have laid a platform for in the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement. Earlier this month when I met with my counterpart, USTR ambassador Rob Portman, we agreed on a proposal to continue to work together to implement these important agreements—to work with industry groups, to work with professional organisations and to enhance and expand the exchange of professionals across the Pacific.

We all recall the difficulty the Labor Party had in supporting the free trade agreement with the United States. I will acknowledge that, to his credit, the then backbencher and member for Brand was one of the strong supporters of the free trade agreement, but everybody else followed the former member for Werriwa in trying to scuttle the US free trade agreement that has delivered so much for Australia—

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and International Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Rudd interjecting

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The interjection by the member for Griffith is about sugar. Last year our sugar exporters exported an extra 52,000 tonnes of sugar into the US market. Whereas part of the agreement we negotiated with the United States was to eliminate the 35 per cent tariff on canned tuna, today we have had word from the Port Lincoln tuna processors—and I am sure the member for Grey will be very pleased to hear this—that they are sending their first shipment of 10 containers of canned tuna—processed, manufactured, product—out of South Australia into the United States as a result of the US free trade agreement. We remember that most of those opposite, following the member for Werriwa, tried to scuttle the deal that we put together.