Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I think everyone can benefit from a little knowledge. We did not get anything today from the Minister for Trade that would tell us anything we did not know last year or the year before—although, as I said, we did get some interesting aspects on trade from previous prime ministers over the last few weeks. The trade minister’s course on trade 101 is obviously directed at his own frontbench colleagues because I think a lot of Asia-Pacific members have lost interest after the Prime Minister’s sudden announcement and no follow-up. I hope that the trade minister’s next statement will show a true commitment to trade liberalisation and actually show ways to consolidate and enhance market opportunities for Australian exporters. We do, after six months, need something of substance from the trade minister. We do actually need something more than a review. And we do need to know that at some point the Labor Party as the government of the day is going to move forward with a trade policy that will benefit the exporters of Australia.

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