Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

What I can assure Senator Xenophon of is that we will progress every single one of the free trade agreement negotiations that this government is involved in in the national interest. We will be focused on strengthening our economy and creating jobs. We will not be able to solve every trade barrier faced by our exporters, but this government, with the conclusion of KAFTA, progress in the TPP negotiations and a successful conclusion to the WTO negotiations, is making far more progress than the Labor Party in government ever did.

Under this FTA with South Korea, all Australia's tariffs will be removed, including on cars, consistent with all our previous FTAs. We recognise the Australian car industry is facing many challenges, and that is of course why we negotiated staging periods for the reduction of tariffs on some vehicles and parts. Of course, both Australia and South Korea have had to make concessions in areas of interest to the other— (Time expired)