Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the very honourable senator from South Australia for his question. He is man of real integrity and does great things for his state. The new Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Mr Ciobo, has hit the ground running. His No. 1 priority is our trade relationship with Indonesia, and he is intent on concluding an Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. The Indonesia-Australia CEPA will create a framework for a new era of closer economic engagement between Australia and Indonesia, opening up new markets and opportunities for businesses, primary producers and service providers, and that means real jobs, including for people up there in the gallery. This is about real jobs. The minister's first overseas trip since the election was to Indonesia—that shows the priority we put on the relationship—where he met with the new minister for trade, Enggartiasto Lukita.

Australia and Indonesia both agree that our trade relationship is underdone, and both nations have committed to expanding our economic partnership. Indonesia is critical to our future prosperity, with a population of more than 250 million people and a rapidly expanding middle class who will increasingly be looking to world markets to satisfy their increasingly more diverse and sophisticated demands. Australia's proximity and modern economy give us a comparative advantage to help Indonesia grow. An agreement will benefit our traditional export sectors, such as resources and agriculture, and also our burgeoning services sector: finance, health care, infrastructure, transport operators. In spite of all these factors, Indonesia at the moment is only our 12th largest trading partner. Only 250 Australian businesses operate in Indonesia today. The CEPA will go beyond the traditional scope of a free trade agreement— (Time expired)