Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the European Union (EU) is Australia's second largest two-way trading partner of goods and services worth over $74 billion; and

(b) with a high-income population of almost 450 million people, the EU represents an incredibly significant market opportunity for Australian exporters;

(2) acknowledges the significant work undertaken by the former Government to pursue an ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU; and

(3) calls on the Government to:

(a) prioritise the negotiation and completion of the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement; and

(b) deliver a commercially significant agreement with liberalised access that is in the national interest.

I will get to the European Union free trade agreement in a second, because this will be really the first test of this new Labor government in nailing a free trade agreement. They don't have a great record in that. Before I do get to that, the previous government—between 2013 and 2022, when we were in government—nailed so many free trade agreements. Deputy Speaker, I'm sure you're probably aware that goods and services covered by free trade agreements when we came into power were at around 25 per cent and, by the time we left government, that had got to all but 80 per cent. That's a great thing, obviously, for exporting companies. We're an open, transparent exporting nation—a trading nation—and having more access to more customers is obviously great for all those people and companies who are exporting.

So the first of the three immediate jobs the new government has to do is bring into force the UK free trade agreement. I would like to acknowledge the previous trade ministers: Andrew Robb, who I had the great pleasure of catching up with last week, Simon Birmingham and Dan Tehan. They all did a great job with the free trade agreements. Dan Tehan, the previous minister, did a great job with the UK-Australia free trade agreement. What now has to happen is for that to go through our Treaties Committee process to bring it into force before 1 January. We want it to happen before 1 January because we'll get the tariff reductions and other things like that when it comes into force, and then we'll get another tariff reduction on 1 January. So we encourage and are looking to work with the government to do this as quickly as possible. The India-Australia agreement also has to go through that same process, so we're encouraging and working with the government to get those done as quickly as we can.

That's those two jobs, but again, as I said, the big test for the new government and the new minister is: do they nail a deal, and what type of deal do they nail, with the European Union? This is an important free trade agreement. The European Union is a massive market. It has over 450 million people, with a GDP of almost $15 trillion, so this is no small market and no small deal for us. The EU at the moment—this is why this deal is especially important—runs a significant trade surplus with Australia. It's around a $23 billion surplus for goods and $14 billion for services. To give you an interesting stat that I think highlights this, we sell $4 of food per person to the EU. Now, you know we're a great food-exporting nation, but guess what? They export $200 of food to us. So it's very imbalanced, especially given that we are a great food exporter.

So what's going to be important? One of the tests for the new minister and the new government will be the type of deals, the type of access, they get for our agricultural sector. Historically, it has proven for other ministers that you have to play a hard game to get a good deal for our food exporters—the beef, the dairy, the rice, the sugar and the grain. So the new minister is going to have to play a tough game and be a tough negotiator to make sure he gets a good deal.

To give meat as an example—and this is one thing they're going to have to watch out for—we have never before done a free trade agreement where, at the end of transition, there are still quotas. You might start with quotas. You might start with getting increased quotas or increased access for meat into a free trade agreement. By the time the free trade agreement is fully transitioned, though, it's completely liberalised. It isn't limited to quotas then; it's just completely liberalised. So that's also going to be a test for the new minister: can he get a completely liberalised market for meat?

There are many other examples as well, but there is a precedent for this too. We have just done, as I said, a very good deal with the UK. The European Union themselves have just done a deal with the UK, and they are both good models. I think we'll be looking at this and measuring what the new government negotiates between Australia and the EU, compared to what the EU negotiated with the UK or, indeed, what we negotiated with the UK. They're bars that I think the minister and this new government need to meet to support our agricultural and other exporting sectors.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. I too rise to speak about the importance of this Australia-EU free trade agreement. There are a number of reasons why negotiations for this particular EU FTA got back on track with the change of government. No-one wants to do business with an unreliable partner, and with the previous government we looked unreliable. It's not a good start to negotiations.

I say that because, with the discussions that have been taking place, one of the most important factors was that this Albanese government has committed to seriously ambitious climate targets, and we know that the previous government's inability to deliver meaningful action on climate change was a real sticking point with the EU. It was mentioned last week when members of the EU parliament met here with some heads of our trade committees. They all mentioned it. We know that the inability to deliver on action on climate change was the sticking point.

There's no doubt that the Prime Minister's June visit to Europe marked a real turning point in negotiations and our position on climate change was welcomed by the EU. In the words of the outgoing EU ambassador, Michael Pulch, there is 'a renewed sense of priority' for the commission and member states. The former ambassador highlighted the Albanese government's ambitious climate change policy and said that it will help facilitate FTA negotiations in the EU. So I think it's clear that we have managed to get this deal back on track.

The government is committed to diversifying our trade, and this FTA is an important step in the process. for too long we've had too many eggs in one basket. We've seen what's happened just recently with China, and that's why we're delivering on our commitment to negotiate this trade agreement with the EU, giving Australian exporters new market opportunities. This will benefit businesses all around Australia, including in our home state of South Australia, Deputy Speaker Sharkie—companies like Almondco Australia, located in Adelaide's Southern Vales. The company's managing director has stated that the EU FTA would give the company the opportunity to expand their product range and compete on a level playing field with their competitors. Then there's Clean Seas Seafood, located on the Eyre Peninsula, who also stand to improve their competitiveness with respect to other producers exporting to the EU.

So we have a lot to gain from this agreement, and, as I said, we've significantly progressed these negotiations. Just last week, together with the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth—which I chair—I met with members of the EU parliament's trade committee who were visiting here in Canberra, and it was a very promising meeting. The EU is a massive high-income market of almost 450 million people. It generates a GDP of around $23 trillion. As a bloc, the EU is already our third-largest two-way trading partner in goods and services. An FTA with the EU would cover over nine per cent of Australia's entire world trade. So this FTA is in our mutual economic and strategic interests. Not only would it demonstrate our shared values and commitment to the rule based order, but it would also help diversify our trade, including in strategically important areas like energy and raw materials. It would also strengthen the EU's economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

We understand the importance of commitments to the European Parliament member states and stakeholders. Fundamentally, Australia and the EU are like-minded partners with high standards on environment and labour issues. The EU FTA is critical, and work is taking place to have an agreement finalised by mid-2023. The next round of negotiations will start on 17 October, and the trade agreement is a great opportunity to strengthen our ties and tackle the economic and geopolitical challenges and supply chain disruptions currently facing Europe, Australia and the world.

We can be part of that solution. We already have businesses that are trading with the EU. To give you just a very quick example: in my own electorate of Adelaide, we have San Remo, who's exporting pasta to Italy, and we have Omega Foods, who exports olive oil to Greece. So these things are happening, and we can build on them and create greater trade opportunities for all business.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.