Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition government is unashamedly focused on growing Australia's economy. In a world that is more interconnected than ever, Australia's future prosperity will rely heavily on our ability to market our products and our ideas to the world. Geographically, we are very lucky to be located in close proximity to Asia's economic powerhouses, but that is where our reliance on pure luck must end and intelligence and tenacity must kick in.

Located just an hour north of major air and sea ports, the Sunshine Coast is very well placed to take advantage of Australia's improved trading relationships with Japan, China and Korea. These conditions were made possible by the coalition's relentless pursuit of free trade agreements with key export markets. It is for this reason that the Hon. Steve Ciobo, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, answered the call of local Sunshine Coast businesses wanting to know how best they could tap into lucrative Asian markets. Hosted by the assistant minister, the Hon. Keith Pitt, Austrade conducted a free trade seminar in Mooloolaba recently to provide practical advice to some of the coast's best small- and medium-sized businesses on how they could best take advantage of free trade agreements secured by the coalition.

Recently I attended Walker Seafoods, which is the largest wild caught tuna fishery in Australia. It is only—(Time expired)