George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Leyonhjelm, for that question and for the courtesy of giving me some advanced notice of it, so I've got some information from the Minister for Trade which I can give to you.

Taiwan is an important economic partner for Australia, and our bilateral relationship continues to expand. The government is open to the possibility of pursuing better market access arrangements and closer economic cooperation with Taiwan. Any arrangements Australia concluded with Taiwan would be consistent with our one-China policy. The government continues to investigate the potential for liberalising trade arrangements with major trading partners. Taiwan was our 14th-largest trading partner in 2016, and our eighth-largest goods export market for the financial year 2016-17. We expect to see strong growth in energy exports to Taiwan over the medium term as Taiwan transitions its energy mix. For example, Australia is well placed to meet Taiwan's growing demand for LNG over the longer term and coal over the shorter term.

Australia and Taiwan's people-to-people trade links are also stronger than ever. Taiwan is a significant source market for international students in Australia, and is the second-largest source of working holiday-makers after the United Kingdom. Taiwan is Australia's 13th-largest tourism market by arrivals, and 12th by expenditure. In fact, increased flights and new routes saw visitor numbers from Taiwan to Australia grow by 26 per cent to over 164,000 in 2016.