Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Page for this motion, and I fully support it. Trade is critical to regional prosperity and opportunity. In my electorate of Nicholls, we produce 90 per cent of Australia's pears and 48 per cent of the nation's apples. Dairy is a major industry, and we provide 24 per cent of the national production and 28 per cent of the national exports. The Goulburn Valley has a gross regional product of $6.6 billion, of which $1.5 billion is down to agriculture. But that's only part of our story in Nicholls, a true food bowl, not just for Australia but for the world. Our food-processing industry generates $2.5 billion annually.

There are a few things that underpin our success and the export opportunities that we have. The critical one is water. We have a modernised and efficient irrigation network, and continued access to reliable water supply is essential. It's why we can't allow a further 450 gigalitres to be claimed for the environment without regard to the social and economic harm it will cause. We have innovative farmers and a reliable workforce, and we have a large and efficient freight and logistics industry that has grown alongside our agricultural output. Our location gives us access to major city markets and export routes.

The people of Nicholls understand the importance of agriculture and the value of exports, and they know the Nationals and the Liberals have always stood up for them by pursuing new markets and better terms of trade with the world. We have long led an ambitious trade agenda. Of Australia's 16 free trade agreements, 13 of them entered into force under coalition governments. We implemented nine free trade agreements in government, lifting the share of trade covered by the FTAs from 27 per cent in 2013 to over 70 per cent. That figure lifts to almost 80 per cent when you include the India and UK FTAs.

Australia's FTA with the UK is the most comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement that Australia has, other than with New Zealand, and it was the first to be reached by the UK following its exit from the European Union. Labor couldn't even bring itself to acknowledge the FTA in its election trade policy and was slow to refer it to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which is required as part of Australia's treaty-making process. As a member of that committee, I look forward to playing my role in progressing the FTA, which has widespread support, including from the National Farmers Federation, Seafood Industry Australia, Australian Meat Industry Council, Sheep Producers Australia, Alcohol Beverages Australia, Law Council of Australia, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Council of Australia and the Group of Eight.

Farmers will have improved access to more than 65 million UK consumers, who value safe, sustainably produced foods and beverages with the strong provenance that Australia—particularly my electorate of Nicholls—offers, whether that's fine wines from our great producers in Nicholls like Mitchelton, Tahbilk, Monichino, Tallis and Murchison Wines; our great dairy products; or Goulburn River Gold pears, to help APAL, Apple and Pear Australia Ltd, achieve its target of exporting 10 per cent of marketable production of apples and pears by 2027. Australia's trade agreement with India, negotiated and signed by the coalition government in April this year, opens a new era of growth for Australian exporters. It's an interim agreement, and the government has to remain ambitious and pursue a more comprehensive agreement once this one is ratified. Despite another regrettable delay, the agreement has also been referred to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties for its review as required under Australia's processes.

The opportunities for meat, wool, wine and fresh fruit and vegetables are enormous as tariffs reduce over time. Tariffs on almonds, lentils, oranges, mandarins, pears, apricots and strawberries will be reduced, improving opportunities for Australia's horticultural industry to supply India's growing food demand. The growers in Nicholls, some of the best in the world, are ready to step up.

It was the coalition that initiated the FTA with the EU, seeking an ambitious and comprehensive deal to drive Australian exports, economic growth and job creation. The government must embrace that ambition, for it is not just the ambition of the Nationals and our Liberal friends; it is also the ambition of farmers, food processors and vignerons. Indeed, it is the ambition of regional communities who understand the prosperity, employment and success that strong trade policy delivers.

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