E&OE
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Let’s bring in the Shadow Foreign Minister David Coleman for his reaction to all of the morning’s developments now. So let’s start off with Donald Trump’s changes. What do you make of them, David? Good morning.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Morning Pete. Changes are welcome. Obviously moving away from tariffs is a good thing. Tariffs are bad. We’ve known that since at least the 1930s, so it’s welcome. The volatility coming out of the US, though, really underscores the importance of economic management, Pete. Economic issues are to the fore and we know in Australia we’ve got a Government with the worst record in the world, the developed world, on living standards over last three years. And in uncertain times, you need strong economic management, you need a steady hand on the economic levers, and that’s the Coalition. It’s certainly not Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
There had been a lot said about us getting the best deal, though, when it comes to those tariffs. We, of course, had that 10% baseline. Now everyone, except China, is at our level. So have we lost that advantage?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Look, Pete, I think that tariffs are a bad thing, as I said previously. So, we welcome the fact that the tariffs have come down. But the fact that the United States and China are escalating tariffs against each other is very concerning. The history of trade wars is a very bad one. It is a history of depressed economic growth. It is a history of increased prices and it is a history of reduced investment. And that is concerning.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Right, but do you worry? Are you worried about all these other countries coming down to our level though? Do you think we’ve lost that advantage or not? Are you happy with where we’re at, that everyone’s at our level?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Peter, I think the principle is lower tariffs are good. We’re not advocating higher tariffs on individual nations. We are very proud free traders as the Coalition…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Do you have any concerns that we haven’t moved though?
DAVID COLEMAN:
We did the free trade deal with China and Japan…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
(inaudible) … and the 10% stays.
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well of course we don’t want to see, the 10% shouldn’t be there, it should be zero, absolutely. So it would have been obviously much better if the 10% had gone for Australia, but the changes are at least in the right direction. But Pete, free trade is in our DNA. We did the deal with China, we did the deal with South Korea, the deal with Japan. We did the CPTPP, a blockbuster free trade agreement in our region, so we want more free trade. There are more opportunities for free trade. The EU is a big opportunity and the Albanese Government completely dropped the ball on that. And we want to see an EU Free Trade Agreement as a priority and it will be a big priority for us should we be successful in the election.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
All right, well, Don Farrell, you know, he’s told us that he’s working on that. We’ll see where that ends up. But you mentioned China. It now wants to hold our hands. That’s according to Xiao Qian in his op-ed in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning. Do we accept?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Pete, we should work constructively on free trade with any nation that wants to be sensible and have a sensible discussion. After the Coalition did the Free Trade Agreement with China, our exports to China went up by more than $100 billion in six years. That’s not a typo, Pete. More than $100 billion in six years…
PETER STEFANOVIC:
But then China increased its tariffs on us, that was while you were in power as well. But I’m just interested in, if we hold hands with China, you know, as an example, what are the opportunities for us here that we don’t have already?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Look, I think, Pete, working constructively with nations who want to work on free trade is an appropriate thing to do, whether that’s China, whether it’s Japan, India, South Korea.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
Can they be trusted?
DAVID COLEMAN:
Well we can work with them on trade agreements, absolutely. We did that successfully on the Free Trade Agreement. Obviously, China then took other steps which we strongly disagreed with. But the Coalition’s record on free trade is exceptional. The Government’s done one free trade agreement with the UAE and that’s welcome, but it is a tiny, tiny fraction of what the Coalition achieved in office. And free trade will be very much on our agenda should we win the election.
PETER STEFANOVIC:
David, we’ll leave it there, but thanks for your time. It’s David Coleman there, the Shadow Foreign Minister.
HON DAVID COLEMAN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
MEMBER FOR BANKS