Customs Amendment (Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Implementation) Bill 2025
Mr THISTLETHWAITE (Kingsford Smith—Assistant Minister for Immigration and Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade) (17:24): One of the fastest growing regions in the world, and in the Middle East, is the United Arab Emirates. This is an economy in which a large proportion of the population is growing in living standards, ensuring that they have growing not only investment but consumer capacity.
It's really important that Australia as an open trading nation takes advantage of growth and development occurring within the region, and the relationship between Australia and the United Arab Emirates as a result of this proposed agreement has never been stronger. This year we celebrate 50 years of bilateral relations with the UAE after they established diplomatic relations with us in 1975.
Our government is working hard to ensure that that 50 years of cooperation and mutual benefit grows and prospers into the future, and the UAE is already our largest trade and investment partner in the Middle East; we had $13.2 billion in two-way trade and $23.7 billion in two-way investment in 2024. The Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA, as it's commonly known, sets a path for further growth.
This is a really big deal. We have signed Australia's first free trade agreement in the Middle East, with the conclusion of the negotiations announced in September last year. The UAE is a very important gateway to the region and beyond, and this agreement shows the Albanese government's commitment to opening up new opportunities for Australian exporters, farmers, producers and businesses to diversify their markets.
I recently met with the UAE ambassador in Australia, His Excellency Dr Fahad Al Taffaq. We both underscored our commitment to the bilateral relationship, including on trade and co-investment. I am pleased to see that, under this agreement, Australian exports to the UAE are expected to increase to $678 million per year.
Farmers and food and beverage producers will benefit from preferential access to the UAE's growing market for premium food and agricultural products. That's a hallmark of a nation that is developing and improving its living standards. As wealth is created and grows, the population wants to consume better-quality food and other products.
It is estimated that Australian exports will make tariff savings of $135 million on goods exported to the UAE in the first year, rising to $160 million as tariffs are progressively eliminated over the next five years. Many of those areas will be in agricultural products. With the elimination of tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australia's exports to the UAE once fully implemented, Australian exports to the UAE will have a significant commercial edge over other international competitors.
This trade agreement will encourage investment, including in sectors of the Australian economy underpinning our energy transition. The resources industry will also benefit from the elimination of tariffs on minerals, including alumina, Australia's largest export to the UAE. The agreement delivers new opportunities and greater certainty for Australian service providers in the UAE also.
This includes in education, professional services and the financial services sector and makes it easier for certain skilled professionals to work temporarily in the UAE. In a first for Australia, the agreement has a standalone chapter dedicated to First Nations trade. This means that First Nations businesses seeking to export goods to the UAE will benefit from preferential market access and rules.
I want to pay tribute to Australia's Ambassador for First Nations People, Justin Mohamed. He was appointed by the government and criticised by those opposite, but he was fundamental in the negotiations around preferential market access and that standalone chapter dedicated to First Nations trade. It's something that the UAE understands and comprehends.
Because of Mr Mohamed's involvement and because of this government's commitment to promoting the culture of and respect for First Nations people in Australia, we will benefit through a trade agreement, and that's something we are very proud of as a government. The CEPA will complement and reinforce an already valuable relationship with the UAE on defence, counterterrorism and law enforcement.
The broader, economy-wide benefits will far exceed the reduction in revenue from customs duties. The Customs Act will be amended to include rules-of-origin requirements to enable recordkeeping requirements to be prescribed for the CEPA, and the amendments will enable eligible goods that satisfy the new rules of origin for CEPA to be imported into Australia at preferential rates of customs duties.
The amendments will also impose a requirement on exporters and producers to produce records, answer questions and, for authorised officers, disclose those to relevant authorities in the UAE. CEPA is the foundation for future growth of trade and investment relations between Australia and the UAE. It means more opportunities for Australian goods and services and for exporters seeking to diversify their trade.
It will also offer the opportunity to deepen our cooperation in our shared ambition to transition to net zero through greater investment. Our deal delivers for Australian farmers, producers, manufacturers, service providers, exporters and Australian workers, giving them unprecedented access to preferential treatment when they do business with the UAE. The Albanese government is committed to supporting Australian business diversifying markets overseas, and that is exactly what this agreement does.
This agreement with the UAE further strengthens our relationship with one of our most important trading and investment partners in the Middle East. We know that more trade means more export opportunities for Australian businesses, more jobs and more national income, and all Australians will benefit. I commend the agreement to the House.