Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to Senator Dolega for that question. It's a very important point, and that's why the three initiatives announced today—the free trade agreement, the security and defence partnership, and our intention to join Horizon Europe, the world's largest research and innovation fund—are each individually important but, more importantly, as a package, they are greater than the sum of their parts. There is a multiplier effect, because deeper trade, research, and innovation integration and closer security ties turbocharge our relationship with Europe. Driving this cooperation in emerging and critical technologies will also enable greater productivity and innovation and strengthen Australia's national security. As I said earlier, critical technologies are both an economic and a strategic asset. This is what we are doing to secure Australia's place in the world today and into the future.