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

This is a term of delivery. In part, the trade portfolio during this term will seek to maximise the benefits flowing from the free trade agreements that we have negotiated with China, Japan and South Korea. Our new FTAs will see tariffs slashed, if not eliminated, on a wide range of goods and services exports, benefiting everyone from healthcare providers in Queensland to dairy farmers in Victoria and mining engineers in Western Australia. Already we are beginning to see the benefits. Our export volume growth was double that of the rest of the world in 2015. We traded $670 billion worth of goods and services last year, which was an improvement of one per cent on the year before, during a time of falling commodity prices. And business is seeing positive effects, with 67 per cent of Australian exporters saying they believe business will be even better this year than it was last year.