James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Senator Birmingham. What is the government doing to secure stability and certainty for our exporters interested in improved market access to the United Kingdom?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Paterson for his question. Senator Paterson, like every coalition senator, is somebody who strongly backs the ability of Australian farmers and Australian businesses to succeed when they engage in overseas markets, to succeed on the export scene, and that is exactly what we have seen occur over recent years as a result of our government's success in creating new opportunities for Australian businesses.

We want to see the delivery of certainty of opportunity for Australian businesses through enhanced market access, to enable them to sell more goods, sell more services and secure more investment from different international markets—and that has been delivered across each of our trade negotiations. We stand ready to do so with the United Kingdom, when they exit the European Union, as part of their domestic policy settings. We stand ready to do that because the UK is already a major trading partner for Australia. It is our eighth-largest trading partner in terms of total goods and services trade, a trading partner with which we have existing trade to the value of some $26.9 billion and a trading partner where our foreign investment is valued at some $574.8 billion of support for Australian jobs, Australian growth and Australian companies. It is critical for us to make sure that we continue to provide support for growth in that relationship, as we do in all of our international export and investment relationships.

We have prepared for all of the potential uncertainties surrounding Brexit, including the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, to make sure that Australian businesses can have as much certainty as possible of access into the UK market and the EU market into the future. We are, as is well known, already at the stage of negotiating a free trade agreement with the European Union, a very valued partner. We stand ready to commence negotiations formally with the United Kingdom upon them leaving the European Union and to maximise the opportunities of that market as well.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Paterson, a supplementary question?

James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister update the Senate on any recent dialogue with the United Kingdom on trade?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to have welcomed the UK Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, to Australia and to Canberra today and to have commenced with her further discussions in relation to the future Australia-UK trading relationship. We have already had a trade working group established with the UK to work through the uncertainties of Brexit and to look at the potential scoping of a future free trade agreement and future negotiations, and today we very strongly reaffirmed our commitments to one another, between our respective countries, to launch those FTA negotiations as soon as possible following the UK's exit from the European Union Customs Union. Australia has a great track record of being able to quickly and effectively negotiate trade agreements under a coalition government. It is the success of our government in sealing agreements such as the TPP, as well as those with major North Asia economies and elsewhere, that is delivering record export volumes, and we want to ensure this continues through such negotiations with the UK.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Paterson, a final supplementary question?

James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister update the Senate on the importance of free trade agreements for delivering economic growth and certainty for Australians?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) | Link to this | Hansard source

Our success from our free trade agreements is translated into more Australian businesses exporting. In fact, 18½ per cent more businesses are exporting today than when we were elected as a government. The number has grown to 53,000 Australian businesses. Critically, 46,000 of those businesses are small and medium enterprises who are having a go on the international stage and enjoying success exporting because of the market access we have negotiated. In doing so, they are helping to support record numbers of jobs. An estimated 240,000 additional trade-related jobs have been created during our time in government. This is providing more opportunities for businesses, more opportunities for employment and, of course, greater revenue for Australia. We are seeing that revenue come from across the sphere of our trade agreements. Trade with ASEAN countries is up 25 per cent on the previous financial year; with Korea, up 21 per cent; Japan, up 21 per cent; and China, up 27 per cent; and there are plans for expansion into markets like the UK and the EU.