Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Chisholm—on another subject, I hope!

Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is on another subject, but it's a very important subject, which is opening doors for Australian agriculture and processing industries to grow and diversify their overseas markets. We know that, when our farmers do well, Australia does well, and under our government the industry is going from strength to strength when it comes to exports. ABARES analysis of exports has shown that, in 2023-24, agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports were worth $76 billion, the second-highest value on record. In 2024-25, agriculture exports alone are forecast to reach $68.5 billion. We are committed to building on this success and supporting the industry's ambition to reach a farmgate value of $100 billion by 2030.

We recorded 88 technical market access achievements in 2023-24, including opening 10 new markets and 44 improvements to existing markets. These achievements include the removal of duties on Australian bottled wine exported to China, restoring commercially viable access for Australian exporters; maintaining access for canola to the EU, representing $2.1 billion of exports in 2023; and new access for Hass avocados in Thailand—662 tonnes have been exported since access was opened. And, just this Tuesday, we secured another export win, with new-market-access agreements signed between Australia and Vietnam which will see Aussie grown plums in Vietnamese supermarkets.

There is more work to do to open new opportunities for Aussie farmers. The opposition spent nearly a decade eroding and neglecting our relationships with many of our trading partners. Our government is getting these relationships back on track because we know that trade means more jobs and better wages for workers, and that's what we continue to deliver.