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

She has moved! She is going up, from the great state of Queensland.

Firstly, let me congratulate the Minister for Trade and Investment, Mr Robb, for achieving such a positive outcome for all Australians. Andrew Robb has done a great job with three free trade agreements—with Japan, Korea and China—and now the crowning achievement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which involves 12 nations in a multilateral agreement covering around 40 per cent of the world's economic activity and more than $100 billion of Australia's two-way trade. It is the biggest such deal in 20 years, the biggest since the Uruguay Round, which shows that this coalition, under both Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, has been committed to the future prosperity of and closer relations with our regional partners.

Along with the Korea, China and Japan free trade agreements, this agreement will ensure that Australia is competitive in key markets as the mining boom winds down and the world's economic centre shifts increasingly to the Asia-Pacific. It covers Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand—

Opposition senators interjecting—

you can only dream of this over there—Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. It will slash barriers to Australian exports of goods and services and investment. Ninety-eight per cent of all tariffs will be eliminated, and red tape will be cut across the region.

By boosting trade with a third of our export markets, this government is supporting jobs growth across the agriculture, resources, manufacturing, financial, education, health, transportation, telecommunications, hospitality and professional services sectors. You can only dream about this! And it provides a framework for future industries: for innovation, for e-commerce, for IT.