Louise Markus (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer update the House on how the export agreement with China will help build a stronger economy? How will this agreement mean more jobs for Australians, including in my electorate?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Macquarie for that question. Each year we trade about $150 billion worth of goods and services with China. They spend $100 billion on our goods and services; we spend $50 billion on their goods and services. So it works in our favour by two to one. The trade agreement that we have with China today is going to make that even better, and it ends up delivering more jobs and better paying jobs, and we welcome that. As the member for Macquarie was telling me a little bit earlier today, Scenic World in her electorate—a number of us have been there over the years—last year had a 36 per cent increase in the number of Chinese visitors, to nearly 155,000 Chinese visitors.

We are doing all of this to create more jobs and better jobs for everyday Australians, and I am very pleased with the data released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics today about the unemployment numbers in Australia. There is still much work to be done, but, even with the volatility that goes from month to month, the fact is that over the last three months, since the 'have a go' budget, nearly 60,000 jobs have been created in Australia. Sixty thousand jobs have been created in Australia in the last three months. How many jobs do you think were created in the last three months after the last Labor budget? Twenty thousand? Ten thousand? Five thousand? One thousand? It was 500—500 jobs in three months after the last budget from the member for Lilley, compared to nearly 60,000 jobs in the three months since our last budget, and the 500 jobs he created ended up as branch members. And do you know what? The workforce participation rate is higher now than it was when the Labor Party left government.

So we are delivering more jobs—more than 300,000 jobs created since we came to government. We are delivering better jobs with higher wages. We are delivering more opportunities with a free trade agreement that is going to open the doors of prosperity to more and more Australians. The only threat to more jobs and better jobs is the Australian Labor Party, and I say again to the Labor Party: get out of the way of the free trade agreement and help us to build a more prosperous Australia.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister. Why did the China free trade agreement include special migration arrangements for projects in excess of $150 million, known as investment facilitation arrangements, and is the Acting Prime Minister aware that no similar migration arrangements are included in Australia's other free trade agreements with Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the 10 ASEAN nations and Chile?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question again. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is a comprehensive agreement. That is what is so remarkable about this agreement. This is the first time that China has agreed to a trade arrangement of this nature with a developed economy of Australia's breadth and depth. This is a remarkable agreement because it is so comprehensive.

Mr Champion interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Wakefield is warned.

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And it does deal with some things that are not in other agreements. That would hardly be a surprise, because there are different priorities. But what this agreement does is protect Australian job standards. It protects the rights of Australians to work in positions of their choice. It gives the opportunity for Australians to also participate in the economy in China. We are able to undertake services and activities in China as a result of this agreement which were not possible under previous arrangements, especially the expansion of service industries into China. There will be jobs created for Australians in China, and it seems that the trade union movement, in its scare campaign, does not want to talk about those sorts of things. But let me assure you that unqualified people will not be allowed to work in Australia. The electricians and others have made it clear through their professional associations that the standards will be applied to anyone coming from other parts of the world to work here, just as happens to Australians who want to work in those professions. This is not a way to undermine our standards as a country; it is a way to create new jobs, more jobs and more opportunities for Australians as we grow our export markets into that part of the world and embrace the opportunities that there are in a trading arrangement of this nature with the fastest growing economy in the world.

Honourable members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the member for Melbourne, the member for Corangamite made an unparliamentary remark during that answer. I would ask her to withdraw.

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If it assists the House, I will withdraw.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite.