Agriculture Industry: Trade

Ms COLLINS (Franklin—Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) (15:20): I want to thank the first-ever member for Bullwinkel for that terrific question. I also note in her first speech, which was terrific, this morning, she also referred to her support for farmers in her community and how important the farming community is to her. I think what it shows is that our government has worked incredibly hard with our trading relationships and our international partners. We've been restoring our place in the world without compromising on getting good outcomes for our Aussie farmers. Indeed we've worked very hard to diversify trade and to unlock new opportunities for Aussie farmers. This has supported $73.5 billion in high-quality agriculture product exports to more than 190 countries in 2024 alone.

This is what can be achieved when you don't walk away from the table, when you put the need for positive outcomes of our agriculture sector at the forefront of trade negotiations. Indeed we've worked very hard, particularly to restore trade with China, resuming over $20 billion worth of trade for our lobster, our wine, our barley, our coal, our cotton, our timber logs, our oaten hay, our copper ores, our concentrates and our red-meat exports. In just the last week, of course, during the Prime Minister's visit to China, Australia finalised new agricultural market access between the two countries, the first since 2017, and we're now providing apple growers from across mainland Australia with access to the Chinese market, building on the apple exports already taking place from my home state of Tasmania.

This builds on the over 230 agricultural market access achievements by our government since we came to office, including 29 new markets that we have opened. These agreements are supporting our agricultural industry to grow towards a $100 billion sector by 2030, and it's part of our work to support our farmers and our primary producers to seize these opportunities and new markets. Indeed with one in four Australian jobs supported by our trade, the Albanese Labor government is ensuring growth in trade unlocks more regional jobs and delivers more economic benefits, particularly in our regional communities, where a lot of this is produced. We're continuing to repair the damage of the last decade without compromising on getting good outcomes for Aussie farmers. We want good Australian jobs from these, and we want to support our agriculture sector. That's because, of course, our government has a proud record of delivering better trade outcomes for our farmers, because we know that they make the very best produce across the globe, and our farmers are supporting them to back better outcomes for our national economy. (Time expired)