Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources. Will the minister inform the House how the recently negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement will help create jobs and growth in my electorate of Capricornia and elsewhere?

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question, following on from the member for Hunter, especially on the International Day Of Rural Women. Central Queensland is the home of Robyn McFarlane, the CWA president in Queensland; Josie Angus, who has got a very good vertically integrated beef business in that area; and the unforgettable Lenore Johnson, who has done immense work for Central Queensland in the political field for so long but has never wanted to be a member of Parliament. There is also another very good reason why the member for Capricornia should be asking this question, because today is once more her 25th birthday! It is the birthday of the member for Capricornia, so happy birthday, Michelle.

But onto other matters: in the beef capital of Australia under the TPP, we will see the tariffs going down to nine per cent on beef over 15 years. Japan is our second biggest beef market, with in excess of $2 billion worth of beef sold into that market. If you want to create jobs and if you want to grow the economy, then you have got to expand the markets we sell into. This is what the TPP does. This stands behind the meatworkers' jobs in Central Queensland. If you want to open up new markets, we are doing that with a 20 per cent reduction on tariffs on entry into force into Mexico. If you think of Mexico, you think of tacos. Unfortunately, the majority of it is offal. We are reducing it down for offal.

Opposition members: 'Taycos'! 'Taycos'!

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Deputy Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are very excited today, since they are all going home! Nola Marino's electorate of Forrest has also got a strong wine industry. We will be eliminating the tariffs on entry into force into Canada and Vietnam, where there is a going wine industry. We will be having the tariffs eliminated over 11 years. We are seeing big new contracts coming through in the wine industry. This is also great for those workers in the wine industry and for those farmers to get a better return through the farm gate in the wine industry. Senator Anne Ruston, who is very accomplished in the horticultural industry, will see the 27 per cent tariff cut over three years for fresh oranges and the 70 per cent tariff cut over five years for mandarins.

This all stands in lock step with our plans on infrastructure, whether it is the inland rail, whether it is the beef roads in Central Queensland or whether it is dams and Roads to Recovery. This is a government that is actually finding the markets, expanding the markets and bringing a better return through the farm gate. This is a government that has a vision, this is a government that has a plan and we are a government that is delivering.