Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator McDonald for her question, and I also recognise her strong interest in and commitment to the regional communities of Australia and our agricultural and other primary industry sectors. Senator McDonald has a very strong understanding of the importance of overseas markets to our rural and regional communities and the businesses that exist within them. It is quite an astonishing statistic that 70 per cent of Australia's agricultural production is exported. Therefore, access to a diverse range of overseas markets is very important to Australia, and it has never been more important than it is now, with the economic challenges that Australia faces with the coronavirus pandemic.

This government has a very strong record in delivering market access and opportunities to all of our Australian industries but particularly to our farmers and fishers. Today, I'm very pleased to be in the Senate with my colleague the Minister for Trade, Minister Birmingham, on the cusp of embarking on new free trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom. In the UK—and in the EU, where negotiations are already underway—there is enormous opportunity to deliver ambitious and comprehensive free trade agreements, securing more favourable access for Australian products into these new markets.

The government understands that it's not just about new markets for our agricultural sector; we also need to make sure that our industries know exactly how they can best take advantage of these new markets. We don't take a 'set and forget' approach. So, through a series of 12 webinars, Austrade will ensure that exporters have all of the information that they need so that they can take the steps that they need to take to take the most advantage of the free trade agreements. Australia's free trade agreements with key trading partners continue to deliver huge benefits for Australia.