Arthur Sinodinos (NSW, Liberal Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

Each of the 11 countries has its own process of dealing with domestic treaty making and scrutiny. For Australia this means, as I mentioned before, that before any binding treaty action is taken the TPP text and the national interest analysis will be tabled in the parliament for 20 joint sitting days—an analysis done by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Further, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will conduct an inquiry into the TPP and report back to the parliament. Parliament will consider any legislation or amendments to existing legislation that may be necessary to implement the agreement. Crucially, going forward, the TPP is not limited to the original 12 signatory nations. I can report that the trade minister has said to me that other countries in the region outside the TPP are already saying, 'We want to be part of the action,' because they believe that countries inside the tent will get the break on them by being part of this arrangement. So even though the original agreement— (Time expired)