Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister, representing the Minister for Trade and Investment. Will the minister update the House on the outcome of the inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties into the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Herbert, who is the chairman of the coalition's trade committee, for his question. The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement is recognised as an agreement of the highest quality. This government was able to achieve this agreement in seven months where Labor had wasted six years. The Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, deserves great credit for having concluded this agreement.

The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties has concluded its inquiry into this landmark agreement and today it reported to the parliament. I acknowledge the work of the member for Longman and his committee on their report. They were satisfied with the agreement and said it will:

… provide substantial economic benefit, not only to Australian business and industry, but also to the broader community.

Modelling shows that it will contribute about $650 million per year to our economy. It will create 1,700 new jobs in the first year and then 1,000 a year from then on. It will boost agricultural exports to Korea by about 73 per cent and other exports by about 25 per cent.

With such an outstanding record, with such predictions about its future, one would have thought that everyone in this parliament would be in favour of it, but, no, Labor actually submitted a dissenting report opposing the creation of these jobs and this boost to income. The member for Wills—let us remember he is a former Parliamentary Secretary for Trade—said we should go back to the drawing board. Can you really believe that? This is an agreement that is going to create thousands of jobs but Labor does not want it.

If you want to uncover the key to this incredible Labor position you just have to go to the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, which has of course great influence on members opposite. In its evidence to the committee it said

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union has had a longstanding policy of opposing bilateral trade agreements.

They are against them all, regardless of what benefits there might be! That gives the Leader of the Opposition a great problem, because he is on record as having supported the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement. He said it deserves 'Labor’s support for a more open global trading system'. Really? Those remarks do not seem to be in concert with the those members of the backbench who recommended that this treaty should be rejected.

What we have today, clearly, is a Leader of the Opposition who represents a party that is anti-trade, anti-jobs and anti-growth in the Australian economy, and all of their empty rhetoric needs to be seen just for what it really is.