QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Ms COLLINS (Franklin—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) (14:52): I want to thank the member for Paterson for her ongoing interest in agriculture and producers in her local electorate. She has also, of course, been chair of the primary industries committee of the House and has done some excellent work in regard to a food security strategy. Since coming to government, we have worked very hard to diversify our trade and unlock opportunities for our farmers and our producers, because we know that better market access is good for our farmers but it's also great for our regional communities and it's good for regional jobs, something our farmers and producers, particularly in the member for Paterson's electorate, will know well.

We've restored Australia's place in the world. In a carefully considered way, we've gone about this, and in just the last week, during the Prime Minister's visit to the United Arab Emirates, we brought Australia's new free trade agreement with the UAE into force. The Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership eliminates tariffs on more than 99 of Australia's agricultural exports.

Most tariffs on agricultural products sent to the UAE were eliminated immediately, including on red meat, on grains, on oilseeds and on dairy, something that we know farmers and regional communities will benefit from. Tariffs on a limited number of goods, such as poultry, bread and pastry, will be phased out over the next three to five years. This deal delivers real and tangible benefits for Australian farmers and producers and gives them unprecedented access and preferential treatment when they do business with the UAE.

It will slash around $50 million a year in tariffs based on current volumes for Australian agriculture and food exports, keeping more money in our regional economies and supporting more regional jobs. Importantly, it allows for growth into the UAE for our farmers. With our agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports to the UAE currently valued at $1.7 billion in the last financial year—including from our oilseeds, our red meat, our grains and our dairy exports—the UAE is now our 12th-largest agricultural export market, and this is a deal that will support more growth opportunities, as I've said, for our farmers and our producers.

Importantly, this is our first free trade agreement with the Middle East. This is work that took a Labor government to deliver, in the careful, considered way we go about our business, because we know that that's what you achieve when you work hard on your trading relationships, and we know the benefits of this for our farmers and our regional communities. We know, of course, that those opposite neglected some important trading partners and relationships, and we have worked hard, night and day, to improve and get the re-entry of $20 billion worth of trade with our largest trading partner.

I want to be clear: we have delivered 231 market access achievements and 29 new markets. (Time expired)