Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Sinodinos, representing the Minister for Trade and Investment. Can the cabinet secretary inform the Senate how the government's success in securing free trade agreements will foster innovation and growth in the Australian economy?

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

I thank the honourable senator for her question and for her interest in trade. Trade is the lifeblood of the great state of Western Australia. I can confirm that these free trade agreements that we have been talking about—the Korea free trade agreement, the Japan free trade agreement and the China-Australia free trade agreement, to be followed by the Trans-Pacific Partnership—all will promote free trade, and the free trade will in turn promote greater innovation in the Australian economy because it will promote competition in the Australian economy, and competition and innovation are very closely related. The competition that comes from taking trade barriers down and taking down non-technical or non-tariff barriers to trade and all the rest of it—all of that will promote greater free flow of goods and services.

Our modelling indicates our three recent bilateral free trade agreements will add $24.4 billion to Australia's gross domestic product between 2016 and 2035. Household consumption in Australia will increase by $4,350 on average over the same period. What we are doing with the Harper review will promote competition, which will promote innovation and allow us to take advantage of these free trade agreements. And what we are doing in reducing unnecessary, burdensome and costly regulation will further add to the impetus for competition and innovation.

The new Assistant Minister for Productivity has been tasked with expanding our regulatory agenda to include more items which directly increase productivity. On top of that we are exploring ways to promote the formation of entrepreneurial companies in Australia. Changes to the Significant Investor Visa program will do just that. They will direct investment dollars to where they can provide the most benefit—venture capital funds backing start-up innovators.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that response. It is very important for Western Australia and for the nation. My next question is: how is the government protecting Australians' intellectual property in trade negotiations, and why is this important for supporting an innovative economy?

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

The Australian government clearly recognises the importance of intellectual property. We have some of the world's leading minds and we need to ensure that their ideas are protected and promoted where possible. Australia has been the source of inventions such as spray-on skin, the cochlear implant and the cervical cancer vaccine, and this is why Australia has ensured that the Trans-Pacific Partnership recognised the importance of new and innovative biologic medicines. And, thanks to our tenacious and hardworking Minister for Trade and Investment, the government has protected our existing patents system and copyright regime. In fact, the defence minister and I were present at a discussion over the phone between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States over this very issue of biologics, where the US were seeking to push us further in this space. But what we did was to protect the existing five years of data protection on biologic medicines, which will help to ensure Australian innovators have appropriate protection for their intellectual property. It will incentivise Australians to develop new ideas. (Time expired)

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. Can the Cabinet Secretary also inform the Senate how freer trade will allow greater investments in Australia's innovation sector?

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

As I mentioned before, we have the newly refashioned Significant Investor Visa to direct investment dollars to where they can provide the most benefit—venture capital funds backing start-up innovators. SIVs can produce positive, long-term impacts with additional investment dollars delivering much-needed capital to our entrepreneurs. But the changes do more than deliver money. In the longer term they will provide massive opportunities for home-grown Australian technology and innovation sectors to engage with other countries around the world, developing people-to-people linkages, and grow our entrepreneurial talent base and develop our innovation industry well into the 21st century.

In reviewing the criteria around eligible investments for the investment visa program, our plan is to ask SIV applicants to put more skin in the game for Australia, and we aim to channel the investment into areas that may offer great potential but find it hard to attract investment dollars today. In that context, may I say we are examining, as Senator Day raised the other day, the option of a free trade agreement with Israel, which would seek to capture these benefits. (Time expired)