Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I second the motion. It gives me great satisfaction to speak to this motion, because in November the G20 leaders will meet in my home city of Brisbane. The G20 is tasked with the coordination of initiatives to strengthen global economic growth. This G20 meeting brings together developed and developing countries—the largest 20. It effectively replaced the G7 at a meeting in late 2008. Then, for the first time in our history, Australia got a seat at the major global economic coordinating table, a very substantial achievement for our country. Australia played a very important role in securing the G20 as the replacement for the G7, and that is something I think every Australian can be proud of.

This meeting will be the second in Asia and the first in the Southern Hemisphere. There was strong support in both the developed and developing world for a G20 meeting to happen in Australia, and it is true that Australia's contribution to the G20 in recent years has been significant and supported by our peers because Australia is seen as an honest broker. We have been able to work very constructively with the old superpowers as well as the emerging superpowers in the developing world and we have assumed leadership of the G20 because of the quality and relevance of what we bring to the table.

In particular there is an expectation amongst other G20 members that we bring forward an agenda that has rigor and has substance. As we know, Australia has always punched well above its weight in the international community, but we should never take our membership of the G20 for granted. It is true that the G20 is at the crossroads and there are those who would love nothing more than to go back to a G7 or a G13. So this is very, very important for Australia.

It is important that the G20 renews its focus in particular on a growth agenda, and Australia must put forward an agenda which is engaging, contemporary and substantial. That is what all the other fellow G20 members are looking for. In particular, we must have a coordinated, comprehensive growth strategy—one whose central purpose is to support global growth, to support jobs across the developed and developing world. Most importantly, it is not enough just to say that we have a growth target. There has to be faith that that growth target will be backed up by substantial reforms in the developed and developing world which will give meaning to the objective of job creation globally.

In particular, I think it is important that Australia refuses the temptation to inject domestic politics into the agenda. Indeed, that would be deeply embarrassing for Australia. I certainly hope we do not have a repeat of what the Prime Minister said in Davos in January, when he denied the origins of the global financial crisis. That indeed would be very embarrassing and counterproductive for Australia. What that means is that Australia needs to be very broad-minded about the agenda. For example, if other nations want to talk about climate change, then that should be on the agenda.

Also, as a proud Queenslander, I am delighted to see that this meeting will be taking place in Brisbane. There will also be a finance ministers meeting in Cairns. This recognises the growing importance of Brisbane, of Queensland and of Far North Queensland to our national economy. It is a very important achievement for our state and for our regions. I was a very enthusiastic supporter of Brisbane as the venue for the leaders meeting, but Brisbane won the bid on its merits. In particular, it won the bid over Sydney because of the quality of our airport, the quality of the transport links and the quality of our convention centre. So, whilst it is great to have it in my home city, it won that bid because of recognition of how important our city and our state has become not just to our national economy but to the regional economy.

It is a fantastic opportunity for Brisbane, Cairns and the rest of the state to showcase itself to the world. I know that there will be some disruption caused by this, but I think it is worth it because what it will bring to our state, to our tourist industry and to our other industries will be a chance to showcase our lifestyle and what we have achieved. But, most importantly, it will symbolise the movement of economic power from west to east. It will symbolise the importance of Queensland, Australia to our global economy and it will showcase our economy—the best developed economy in the global economy over the last 30 years.

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