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

Both tourism and the business events sector are very important in this regard. The ATEC is very concerned about the short-sighted focus of the union's campaign in the tourism space because it fails to recognise the importance of the agreement to a broad range of export industries and the flow-on benefits it will bring to the broader economy. Business events themselves are an economic powerhouse for this nation in trade, in export, in investment, in diplomacy, in education and in knowledge transfer. In fact, in 2013-14, over 37 million people attended more than 412,000 business events across Australia, and China is already a significant contributor to that sector, earning $260 million alone last year. So, if we are able to expand trade with China under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, that will have a flow-on effect to meetings, events, conferences, exhibitions and the incentive industry. As the chairman of the Business Events Council of Australia has stated:

What is often forgotten in these disputes ...

(Time expired)