Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the following reports: Report 164 Air Services-Kuwait, Air Services-Bahrain and Report 166 Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness-USA; Convention on Choice of Courts-accession; GATT Schedule of Concessions-amendment; Radio Regulations-partial revision.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I present the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties reports 164 and 166, which contain the committee's review of six treaty actions. Four had been tabled in the 44th Parliament. Then the inquiries lapsed when parliament was dissolved. These treaties were subsequently referred to the committee at the beginning of the 45th Parliament.

There are also two air service agreements in Report 164. The first is with Kuwait and follows the standard Australian model air service agreement and is expected to facilitate further trade and tourism between our two countries. The second is a protocol to amend the current air service agreement with Bahrain and provide far more liberal route rights and tariff provisions for both countries. It also changes reference from the 'State of Bahrain' to the 'Kingdom of Bahrain'. The committee has recommended that both air service agreements be ratified.

Turning to Report 166, the Implementation Procedures for Airworthiness with the United States of America will enable Australian manufacturers to gain access to the US aviation market, which, as we know, is one of the largest in the world. It will certainly encourage innovators to invest in new technologies and, especially, modification and modernisation of old aircraft.

The Convention on Choice of Court Agreements sets out how courts will treat jurisdiction clauses in private contracts. In these clauses, the contracting parties agree in which court system they will resolve any disputes. Australia's accession to the convention will provide greater clarity and certainty in this area, especially for those seeking private agreements across borders.

Further, the amendments to Australia's Schedule of Concessions in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which we all know as GATT, will remove tariffs on a range of technology products and eliminate agricultural export subsidies. The committee acknowledges the significance of these two ministerial decisions. We note that both will provide incremental improvements for Australian consumers and farmers, which is not only good for those on the land. However, further work always needs to be done to reduce domestic subsidies and non-tariff barriers, if more progress is to be made on liberalising global trade.

Finally, the partial revision of the Radio Regulations updates the international use of the radio frequency spectrum, including the allocation of spectrum to radio communication services. These regulations ensure the rational, efficient and equitable use of this global resource called a spectrum. The revisions will improve a wide range of areas including: provisions for the growing demand for mobile broadband services; improving aeronautical communications capabilities; and provisions to improve radar for collision avoidance and driver-warning systems. Acceptance of the revisions will allow Australia to align itself with the rest of the world in its regulation of the radio-frequency spectrum.

The committee recommends that binding treaty action be taken for all of the treaty actions in the report. On behalf of the committee, I commend these reports to the House.