Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

So this free trade agreement will underpin closer ties and trading ties that are going to create jobs and opportunity for Australians and for Australians working in China.

But, for our relationship to prosper and to ensure that it endures well into the future, it will not be just about trade and investment. It is a deeper understanding facilitated through exchanges of ideas and culture and opportunities and people. This is a relationship that requires and deserves close attention, nurturing, careful management and respect. In November of this year we will host in Sydney the next round of the Australia-China high-level dialogue, which will bring together senior figures from both our countries in business, education, media and culture to explore concrete ideas to build closer bilateral exchanges.

It is estimated—and this is an interesting point—that Chinese people are spending something like US$10 trillion globally on luxury goods, so the potential for Australia's creative industry, our creative economies, to tap into this enormous middle class and this huge luxury goods market will be facilitated by the free trade agreement. Our fashion industry, which contributes about $12 billion to the Australian economy and already employs about 220,000 people, will grow enormously under the China free trade agreement because our designers and our leather, our wool and our cotton—the fabrics used in our fashion designs—will be high-quality products much sought after by the Chinese market.

Both Australia and China stand to profit as we strengthen our relationship. Labor must follow through on its commitment to make this the Asian century. (Time expired)

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