QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator FARRELL (South Australia—Minister for Trade and Tourism, Special Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:31): I thank Senator Canavan for his question. I might just say at the outset how important the role of EFA, the export finance authority, has been during the recent crisis that we've had in terms of fuel supplies. It was quick action by the Albanese government to set up the EFA so that it could buy all of the petrol, the diesel, the airline fuel and the fertiliser that we needed to get through the most recent crisis.

One of the reasons that EFA was able to act so quickly and, I might say, so successfully—we just heard from Senator Ayres about some of the volumes of fuel now being stored in Australia—was the good relations that this government set up with our neighbours in our own region. One of those countries, of course, is India. In a couple of weeks time we've got the Indian prime minister coming to visit Australia.

In fact, I think this might be the second time that he has visited this country during the time of this government. India represents a fantastic opportunity for us in terms of trade. The role of the EFA is to find and support successful business opportunities not just for Australian companies but for companies in our region.

(Time expired) The PRESIDENT: Senator Canavan, first supplementary?