Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
2:13 pm
My question is to the Prime Minister. It goes to his answer to my earlier question, where he said about trade agreements:
They tried to start plenty, but they couldn't conclude any.
That's not true, Prime Minister, is it? Isn't it a fact that we concluded the Chile agreement in 2009, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand agreement, including Brunei, Burma, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, in 2010— (Time expired)
Scott Morrison Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
2:14 pm
All I know is that when we came to government 26 per cent of our trade was covered by trade agreements. Right now it's at 70 per cent.
Unidentified interjection - Hansard doesn't record who said this
Opposition Members:
Opposition members interjecting—
Scott Morrison Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
I've only been going for ten seconds!
Ms Plibersek interjecting—
Tony Smith Speaker
The Prime Minister will resume his seat. Members on my left, the member for Sydney!—I feel I should say it every 10 seconds at the moment. The member for Sydney is warned. The Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?
Anthony Albanese Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition
Yes. I invited the Prime Minister to correct the record. He has misled parliament. I don't suggest it's deliberate—
Tony Smith Speaker
The Leader of the Opposition will resume his seat.
Opposition members interjecting—
Members on my left! The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question. The Prime Minister is only about 20 or 25 seconds into the answer. The Prime Minister is being, certainly, relevant to the policy topic. I call the Prime Minister.
Scott Morrison Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister
Start and finish is the test. When you start an agreement and finish an agreement then I suppose you can claim those. I'm happy to acknowledge that some were concluded under the former Labor government, but what I can acknowledge also is that, when they left government, just 26 per cent of our trade was covered by trade agreements. It's 70 per cent now. When it comes to trade, the Labor Party were a dud.