Senator WONG (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (18:44): I rise to speak on the Customs Amendment (Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2014 and a related bill. As the opposition made clear in the other place, we support the passage of these bills. We do so because we understand the importance of trade reform. Trade reform has been one of the most significant reforms of the modern era and it has contributed to today's dynamic and competitive Australian economy and it has created jobs. In government, it is worth recalling that Labor has pursued trade liberalisation for four decades—from the Whitlam government's across-the-board tariff cut, to the Hawke and Keating government's dismantling of protectionist barriers, to the Rudd and Gillard government's pursuit of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. In opposition, Labor will maintain its support for trade liberalisation. However, we will also scrutinise the quality of the deals made by the government, because Australia needs high quality trade agreements that deliver real and practical outcomes for exporters, consumers and workers. The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement itself has been subject to two parliamentary inquiries. The bills before us have been subject to a legislation committee inquiry. All three inquiries have highlighted flaws in the government's approach. I will have more to say about that shortly. I would indicate that, notwithstanding these flaws, we believe that, on balance, the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement is in the national interest. We believe that the benefits of ratifying this agreement outweigh the cost of non-ratification. Tonight I wish to briefly address some of the matters canvassed in the reports of the three inquiries. I would urge the government to do more than give the findings of these inquiries a sideways glance. The outcomes should be taken seriously by the Minister for Trade and by the Abbott government. Firstly, I will address the technical review of thesebills by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee. Given other inquiries into the merits of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, the committee focused on the limited question of whether the customs bills 'faithfully implement the relevant obligations that Australia has assumed under KAFTA'. It is striking that, even on this limited and technical question, the committee did not give the government full marks. The committee identified several issues as well as a lack of clarity on what agreement provisions would be properly translated into domestic law by these bills or in other, yet to be released, regulations. Labor supports the committee's recommendation that: The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service makes publicly available a table which refers to each of the specific provisions of Chapters 3 and 4 of KAFTA and which also identifies where those provisions have been adopted or are proposed to be adopted whether in the Bills, otherwise in legislation or regulations or by procedure. The government should ensure that this references table is provided as soon as possible. It ought to be provided before the passage of these bills. The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, or JSCOT as it is commonly known, also evaluated the merits of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement to ensure that its ratification is in the national interest. Although 'overall' and 'on balance' JSCOT recommended that binding treaty action be taken, its report was far from resounding applause on the detail and processes of this agreement. Over half the report discusses 'issues'. The list of issues included criticisms, concerns and recommendations on matters such as investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms, intellectual property rights, certificates of origin, economic modelling, manufacturing industry impacts, movement of natural persons, labour and environment chapters, consultations, reforms to process, and other matters. This is a bit of a laundry list of issues for the government, and the government should not ignore these issues. Rather, the government should take heed and act both to minimise the impact of issues of concern during the implementation of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement and to avoid making the same mistakes in future preferential trade agreement negotiations. The third inquiry relating to the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement by the Foreign Affairs and Trade References Committee was initiated by Labor on 27 March 2014 as a result of the government's reticence to release the text of the agreement after finalising negotiations. I was pleased to participate in this inquiry. I regret, however, that the committee could do no more than give the government a rather average report card. The report concludes: Despite misgivings regarding several aspects of KAFTA, in particular the drafting of the ISDS provisions, the committee judges that, on balance, KAFTA should be ratified. In making this decision, the committee takes into account the external factors surrounding KAFTA, in particular the trade agreements signed (or likely to be signed) by our major export competitors. The references committee report contains several recommendations. These recommendations include: for the Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions in KAFTA to be narrowed by way of side letter, and that the government does not include ISDS provisions in future trade agreements; for independent economic assessments of the impacts of any intellectual property provisions proposed to be added to future agreements; and for the government not to give away our right to regulate labour markets, including labour market testing requirements. On labour market testing, Labor will hold the government to its assurances that the movement of people provisions in the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement will not result in significant increases in Korean nationals entering Australia under 457 visas. I would ask the minister handling this legislation tonight to repeat this assurance in her summing up. It would be preferable if that could be done, rather than requiring the matter move into committee. I refer the minister to the paragraph in the RIS, which referenced at page 47 to the recently tabled Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee report, which states: As this chapter locks in existing arrangements, no significant change is expected in the number of skilled workers entering Australia. I would be grateful if the minister could respond to that in summing up. Labor also acknowledges the conclusion reached by JSCOT and the Senate references committee inquiry that binding treaty action be taken to promptly implement the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement. The Republic of Korea is Australia's third largest export market, our fourth largest trading partner and a growing investment partner. In agriculture, resources and services, Korea is already a significant market for our world-class exporters. Our two-way trade was valued at $30.5 billion in the last financial year and, with this agreement, this value is set to increase. Under the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement, tariffs will be reduced to zero on 84 per cent of exports from Australia to Korea immediately, rising to 95.7 percent of Australian exports in 10 years. Without modelling any gains in the service sector, which employs four out of five people in Australia, the government's economic modelling of the agreement forecasts that the agreement will boost our goods exports to Korea by $3.5 billion by 2030; boost Australia's beef exports to Korea by 59 per cent by 2030; boost Australia's economy by nearly $5 billion between 2015 and 2030; boost Australia's GDP by $650 million by 2030; and create an additional 1,745 jobs in Australia by 2015. One of the most significant areas of gains under this agreement is agriculture, an industry that employs some 200,000 workers. Another 150,000 Australians are employed in the related red meat supply chain, manufacturing, processing and transport industries. Many of these Australians live and work in rural and regional Australia. These Australians—as well as the businesses that employ them and the communities they sustain—deserve the opportunities that trade agreements can deliver through increased market access. These are not the only manufacturers who will benefit; other manufacturers will benefit too. I note that one of Australia's leading natural healthcare companies gave evidence to the Senate committee about the benefits from increased market access for growing its exports. This Australian company, Blackmores, employs approximately 800 staff—most based in Australia—and manufactures vitamins and other products in Australia, predominantly from Australian ingredients. Its representative informed the Senate inquiry that it would directly benefit from the eight per cent tariff cut on its products exported to Korea, a benefit that could translate into 10 to 20 per cent annual growth and increased capacity to reinvest to fund further growth in the region. Blackmores' successes will also light the way for other Australian exporters into the Korean market. In the services sector, Australian law firms, accountants, fund managers and others will soon be able to expand their service sectors into Korea. The former Labor government spoke about 'Australia in the Asian century' and ensured that a lot of work was done around domestic, foreign and economic policy settings to prepare Australia for the Asian century. We also commenced negotiations on this trade agreement and see it as just one stepping stone to sustained prosperity for the nation in the Asian Century in the years ahead, an agreement that will facilitate economic exchange and promote cultural exchange, enriching both our nations in the process. For these reasons, Labor supports the bills before the chamber. We support the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement. But I would again emphasise that this support is not without reservation. We do have concerns about the inclusion of the investor-state dispute settlement provisions. We do have concerns about the changes to copyright. We do have concerns around the government's decision not to include labour market testing in relation to a number of categories. We also have some concerns about the effect of the government's cuts on the automotive sector and the complexity of the rules of origin. I therefore move: At the end of the motion, add: but the Senate urges the Government to: (a) seek to re-negotiate the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement to omit provisions relating to Investor State Dispute Settlement; (b) provide clarity on proposed changes to copyright and assurance that any proposed changes as a result of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement do not create adverse impacts for intellectual property owners or users; (c) protect Australia's right to regulate labour market entry and promote labour standards; (d) reverse its cuts to automotive industry programs and work with employers and unions to ensure Australia has a sustainable automotive components sector; and (e) address business concerns about complex rules of origin in the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement and lack of harmonisation with other preferential trade agreements.