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

I thank Senator Madigan for his question. I can confirm for the chamber that this morning the Prime Minister and President Xi announced the conclusion of negotiations for a free trade agreement. After more than 10 years of negotiations, the Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister Robb, and his Chinese counterpart, Minister Gao, will later today sign a declaration of intent, which is an undertaking to prepare the text of the agreement for signature. The Prime Minister said already that the government will release details of the outcome soon.

This is a historic agreement. It is a high-quality free trade agreement which will open up significant opportunities for Australia in the world's second-largest economy and our largest trading partner. It will ensure the competitiveness of our agriculture, industrial goods and manufacturing industries, it advances and protects access for our service providers and it will attract greater investment into Australia, driving growth and creating jobs.