Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

Opening up trade markets as our government has consistently done over the last six years with our trade agreements struck with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, and the TPP and continuing to build on other partnerships is paying dividends for Australia. Just yesterday the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data that showed Australia had recorded a record trade surplus of some $5.7 billion for the month of May this year. That record trade surplus is fuelled by a record levels of exports from Australia. Indeed, the five largest monthly trade surpluses ever recorded in Australian history have all been delivered in 2019. This is a demonstration that, as a country, we are yielding benefits of growing exports into markets, particularly where we have trade agreements in place, and that growth in exports is fuelling business growth, jobs growth and the opportunity for us to see revenue growth, which ultimately allows us to balance the budget and pay for tax cuts and tax relief for hardworking Australians. (Time expired)