Andrew Bragg (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to make a few comments about trade policy and where RCEP fits in. For over 75 years the Liberal Party has largely been a champion of free trade. This goes back to the Menzies government opening up trade with Japan with the commerce agreement that was delivered in the 1950s. That led to, predominantly, iron ore being shipped to Japan. So the pivot to Asia—trade in an economic sense—started under the Menzies government.

Over the current period of coalition government, you'd have to give great credit to prime ministers Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison for pursuing an agenda on free trade which has seen us deliver the TPP, the RCEP and also bilateral agreements with a number of key Asian partners. The point of free trade is that it is about opening up markets for Australia. This is a wealthy country with a relatively small domestic market. Therefore, we depend on our ability to trade offshore to pay for our lifestyle. I've said many times that Australia has relied upon foreign people, foreign capital and access to foreign markets for the past 240 years. That is a fact. So the job of government is to ensure that the Australian people can trade into these markets., which we can now do at much greater rate thanks to these new trade deals.

The RCEP is setting Australia up for another generation of prosperity. It builds on the bilateral trade deal agenda. As we are trying to set up the country for a decarbonised economy, trade is a key economic lever. It's always easy to run an agenda against free trade through a protectionist lens but the reality is that we will not be a wealthy nation by selling stuff to ourselves—and that is the same for goods and services. What I like about the RCEP is that it goes beyond just cutting tariffs on goods; it also opens up the prospect of Australian services exports going into, mainly, the Asian region. It is important that we, as a diverse economy that is predominantly a services economy, can look to export financial services; that we can look to export accounting services, professional services; that we can look to export architecture and engineering through mutual recognition, through the creation of schemes that allow qualifications and regulatory systems to be recognised in other jurisdictions. We have a lot to gain from services exports as well as goods exports.

In closing, I will just make two points. The thing with these trade deals is that it really is the end of the beginning. Yes, it's true that the signing ceremonies and the media coverage are important. Getting the legislation through means that there will be, eventually, lower tariffs and more access for goods and services. But it is a real grind to get the gains of these trade deals, and that relies upon the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade engaging closely with industry and making sure that the real gains are being achieved, that we are getting access into these markets and that, when the cameras and the caravans and so on move on, the real work continues, because that is the key of a free trade deal.

Finally, without risking being accused of being too partisan, I don't believe the Labor Party would have delivered these trade deals. They are too frightened of ISDS and union bogeyman. Unfortunately, Labor weren't able to deliver big trade deals with Japan and with China when they were in government. They weren't allowed to. Their union bosses said no. I hope in the future, if there is ever a Labor government, that they use their own brains and assess the relative merits of trade deals rather than being told what to think by people who aren't elected. But, in our case, we always act in the national interest. These are good developments, and I commend this legislation to the Senate.