Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry. Would the minister inform the House of the benefits to the Australian resource industry of the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement?

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the hardworking member for Boothby for his question and thank him for his strong and steady commitment to the resource industry in South Australia. He knows, as most people in this chamber know—perhaps not so many on that side, but certainly everyone on this side knows—that a strong and growing resource sector is an important part of having a strong and growing economy providing jobs, particularly in his state of South Australia.

The historic China FTA builds on the back of the Korea and Japan FTAs, and I have to congratulate the fantastic Minister for Trade for what he has done with these. He has done in a year what that side could not do in six. In fact, in his first months he did more than they did in six. He got one away almost straight up, and of course since then he has completed the trifecta. And the burden of tariffs on the Australian resource products, including iron ore, coal, copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel and uranium, will now be eliminated as a result of the successful negotiation of the China FTA. The three per cent tariff on coking coal and remaining minerals commodity tariffs will be immediately eliminated, and the six per cent tariff on thermal coal will be gone within two years—an absolutely fantastic effort but, most importantly, an effort that will create greater viability for those industries in Australia, and that means greater job security.

On full implementation, all resource exports will enter China duty free—incredible access for an industry that exports $75 billion worth of minerals and $10 billion worth of energy commodities to China annually. This incredible access is welcome news for many leading Australian resource companies, such as BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue, Newcrest and Woodside. And the news has also been very welcomed by organisations such as the Minerals Council. The Minerals Council described the agreement as a 'watershed achievement in Australia's relationship with China' which will 'eliminate tariffs that add nearly $590 million in costs to the bilateral minerals and energy trade'. The Australian Mines and Metals Association, in a similar vein, said that the FTA will:

… strengthen our bilateral engagement and provide further momentum for the resource industry to drive the Australian economy, create jobs and improve living standards.

And that is what good government is about.

Coming up to the end of our first year in office, I will say that along with the FTA we scrapped the mining tax and the carbon tax. (Time expired)