Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Will the minister outline to the House the benefits of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and what this agreement means for Australian jobs and economic growth? Is the minister aware of any risk to these benefits?

Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for her question. The member for Capricornia, like so many on this side of the House, was absolutely focused on making sure that we as a government were able to deliver the TPP 11. And we've done it. This side of the House has delivered, consistent with our track record on trade, another major regional agreement that's going to be excellent for exporters in the member's electorate, along with so many other Australians in regional and rural Australia as well as those in new modern areas, in our cities, who are helping drive exports from this country.

We're doing it through the TPP 11 because this agreement will deliver new access into critical markets for Australia. The 11 countries involved, including Australia, represent more than $13.7 trillion worth of GDP. We will have new export agreements in place, new FTAs, with Canada and with Mexico; we've got new improved market access for our exporters into critical markets, like Canada and Mexico, as well as improved access into, for example, Japan for our beef producers and for our wheat growers. The fact is, across the board, this TPP 11 has been and will be a huge win for Australian exporters.

The member for Capricornia asks if there are any risks. I'm afraid there are. The risks that are presented to Australian exporters are called the Australian Labor Party. The reason the Australian Labor Party is a very real risk when it comes to the TPP 11 is that for years the Australian Labor Party wanted to walk away from this deal. We heard the Leader of the Opposition say, repeatedly, that the TPP was dead. We heard the shadow trade minister say, repeatedly, that the TPP was dead. He turned his back on the TPP just like he turns his back now, because the Australian Labor Party don't want to deal with the facts. The fact is that Labor get the big calls wrong on trade. They got the big call wrong on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which is delivering jobs in export growth. They got the big call wrong on the TPP 11, which will deliver jobs and export growth. So Australians know, when they go to the polls in Batman and when they go to the next general election, they have a choice. It is a choice between a government that is pro trade, pro exports and pro jobs growth, a government that's created over 400,000 jobs, more than 1,100 a day—and those jobs are driven by exports from Capricornia, from Leichhardt and from around this country, by people who are exporting their way to financial success and, in the process, creating more jobs for everyday Australians. The only people that can throw a spanner in the works on that are the Australian Labor Party.