Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Edwards for that very important question. About a week ago I attended the G20 leaders meeting with the Prime Minister. Of course, the G20 leaders meeting in Antalya was very much overshadowed by the very tragic events in Paris that have already been addressed in this chamber earlier today. Despite those shocking events in Paris, much of the G20 leaders meeting was focused on the global economic outlook and on a global policy agenda to strengthen growth and create more jobs.

As I first said previously in this chamber, as a trading nation it is self-evident that what happens in the global economy—the global growth outlook—matters to us. As such, Australia, as president of the G20 in 2014, put a very ambitious growth target for consideration at the G20 leaders meeting in Brisbane last year on the agenda: a two per cent growth target above business as usual. I am pleased to report to the Senate that the G20 leaders remain committed to achieving that growth target, which was first announced and first put on the table by the G20 leaders in Brisbane here in Australia last year.

There is no doubt that we continue to face challenges when it comes to global economic growth. Global economic growth remains uneven and continues to fall short of our expectations. In particular, there was a conversation around the table in relation to the economic outlook in China, given the significance of China to the global economy. China is our most important trading partner, so China's continuing economic success— (Time expired)