Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bushby for that question about the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, because, as one of the three free trade agreements which this government has negotiated, two of which have been implemented, it is all about jobs and growth for Australia. What this free trade agreement will do is open extraordinarily significant opportunities for Australia with the world's second-largest economy—and, frankly, it is one of the fastest growing as well. It is already our largest export destination for both goods and services, and it is our largest export market for agriculture, resources and services.

What we will be able to achieve is the removal of some very significant barriers to Australian agricultural exports—so, to beef, to wine, to dairy, to barley, to seafood, to lamb and so on—which will be very, very important in every state of Australia. On full implementation, over 95 per cent of Australia's goods exports to China are going to enter China duty free. In fact, every state and territory is set to gain from this agreement. In Senator Busby's state of Tasmania, last year trade with China accounted for 21 per cent of their trade. In Western Australian, it is 45 per cent. In my own state, it is 24 per cent; in South Australia, 23 per cent; in Victoria, 21 per cent; in Queensland, 20 per cent; and in the Northern Territory, 19 per cent. Why would we deny ourselves the opportunity to significantly increase those proportions with this landmark free trade agreement? It is no wonder, therefore, that it has been backed by a number of Labor state premiers: Daniel Andrews, Annastacia Palaszczuk, Jay Weatherill, and the New South Wales Labor leader in my own state, Mr Foley, and the ACT Chief Minister, Andrew Barr. They realise that this free trade agreement is about creating jobs and growth for all Australians. It is about making their engagement with the Chinese market significantly greater. (Time expired)