Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Birmingham. How is the Morrison government growing a COVID-safe economy by supporting Australian exporters and helping to keep Australians who rely on the exporting sector in jobs through the COVID-19 pandemic?

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

I thank Senator Rennick for his question. He is a known champion of Australian business and Australian jobs, particularly those from Queensland. Right across the globe, far too many businesses and far too many jobs have been tragically disrupted by COVID-19. Some of those disruptions, including here in Australia, have been unavoidable as a result of necessary shutdowns and restrictions across economies. Others have been consequential disruptions. Indeed, many of our exporting businesses have been victims of the consequences of different restrictions, particularly those exporting premium produce to the world. They have been victims of the shutdown of international aviation. An estimated 80 or even 90 per cent of international air freight out of Australia is traditionally carried in the bellies of passenger aircraft, which, of course, are no longer flying. That's why our government has injected more than $350 million into the International Freight Assistance Mechanism. It's targeted, it's temporary and it's providing emergency support to make sure that exporters, while still having to pay a premium to get their goods to market, can at least still get them to market. We have sent and supported Western Australian pork getting to Singapore, Tasmanian salmon to Taiwan, Cairns coral trout to Hong Kong, New South Wales tuna to Japan, South Australian kingfish to Europe and Victorian lamb to the UAE. IFAM is also providing important support for medical imports coming into the country—critical, essential imports in our national interest. To date, IFAM has supported an estimated 4,376 flights that would otherwise probably not have occurred from nine domestic departure points to over 65 international destinations, carrying 94½ thousand tonnes representing more than $1.1 billion in export value to our nation, ensuring those exports still flow and ensuring income and jobs for Australia. (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Rennick, a supplementary question?

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister advise what feedback he has received from Australian businesses and Australian exporters about the International Freight Assistance Mechanism package?

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

Our farmers and our exporters work incredibly hard to secure export contracts around the globe, and the last thing we want to see is them lose the reputation for reliability and lose contracts simply because they can't get their goods to market. So businesses across the country—exporters across the country—have welcomed the work of IFAM. Indeed, in Senator Rennick's home state of Queensland, the Australian Reef Fish Trading Company in Cairns said, 'Without IFAM we would be in survival mode.' Instead, in the last two months they've put on two new people and increased their administration officer from part-time to full-time. The availability and reliability of flights has allowed them to commit to buying fish from the boats. That's kept the boats in business and their crews in jobs, with flow-on impacts to fuel suppliers, mechanical workshops, bait suppliers and wholesalers. SunPork in Kingaroy says, 'The IFAM initiative was an extremely useful stimulus when transport came to an abrupt halt and our normal freight avenues were cut off.' Prime Fish from the Gold Coast acknowledges that, 'Because of IFAM, we've been able to get produce to where it needs to go.' (Time expired)

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Rennick, a final supplementary question?

Gerard Rennick (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In comparison to other countries, can the minister update the Senate on how the Australian goods export sector is faring in the COVID-19 pandemic?

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

Like with all aspects of the economy, there are impacts because of not just the disruptions to air freight but disruptions in a whole range of other ways. In the first six months of this year, Australian goods exports have been down 3.7 per cent on the same period in 2019, but they're still worth in excess of $183 billion. If we compare that 3.7 per cent decline for Australia with elsewhere around the world, we can see that preliminary OECD data shows an average goods export decline across OECD nations in excess of 15 per cent—that's a 3.3 per cent decline for Australia but more than 15 per cent for the OECD on average. Across the G7, it's estimated to have been a decline in excess of 17 per cent, in the US a decline in excess of 16 per cent, in Canada in excess of 18 per cent and in Japan in excess of 14 per cent. That demonstrates that Australia's exporters continue to navigate the complexities of this time, generating exporting— (Time expired)