Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister outline to the House how the Turnbull government is assisting hardworking Australian exporters maintain their competitiveness in global markets by guaranteeing an affordable and reliable energy supply? Is the minister aware of any threats to our competitiveness?

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for O'Connor for his question, because, like those on this side of the chamber, he's passionate about opening up those opportunities for Aussie exporters, knowing full well that opening up those overseas markets has been critical to driving economic growth and making sure we're creating jobs for Australians. That's part of the reason why, under this coalition, we now have a record amount of exports—some $365 billion. Export volumes are up 5.4 per cent year on year, thanks to the coalition's free trade agreements. We're now operating an annual trade surplus—something we haven't seen for a while—as a consequence of the coalition's free trade agreements. Whether it's abalone farmers in Esperance or wine producers in Manjimup, the fact is the coalition is delivering better market access, which makes a difference to exporters in the member for O'Connor's electorate and, indeed, in electorates all across Australia.

It's no secret that in order for us to remain competitive, which I know is a concern that the member for O'Connor raised, exporters have to have access to affordable and reliable electricity. In fact, the president of the National Farmers' Federation, Fiona Simson, said only yesterday:

Farmers across the country—dairy farmers, fruit and vegetables producers, irrigators—are hurting from spiralling electricity prices and unreliable power supplies.

Fiona Simpson goes to the very core of what the coalition's policy is aiming to address: affordability and reliability. And it's the coalition's National Energy Guarantee that we put forward that will address that and ensure Australian exporters remain competitive in an international context.

For that reason, the coalition is not going to back away from a policy that we know will produce good outcomes. And, in fact, it's not just exporters in Esperance; it's also, for example, the CEO of BlueScope Steel, Paul O'Malley, who said of the National Energy Guarantee, 'It turns the game around.' Steel exports are worth something like $2 billion to the Australian economy. So, we have great support from the member for O'Connor's electorate and great support from people like Paul O'Malley.

But who stands in the way? Who stands in the way of a policy that delivers more reliability and delivers more affordability? Only the Australian Labor Party, at a state and federal level. If you look at Queensland, for example, we saw the Queensland state government openly stand on the sidelines while generators they owned participated in uncompetitive bidding practices, pushing the price of energy up. Why? Because the beneficiary was the Queensland Labor government. So, it is no surprise that the Queensland Labor government wants to stand in the way of more reliable and more affordable energy, and no surprise that the federal Labor Party wants to stand in the way as well.