Australia China Business Council Executive Dinner

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet, the Ngunnawal people.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present.

I’d like to also pay my respects to any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people here today.

Thank you to the Australia-China Business Council for the opportunity to speak today.

The Council plays a crucial role in the Australia-China relationship, and I’ve no doubt this year’s Canberra Networking Day will be a great success, as it always is.

This evening offers us an opportunity to reflect on the resilience of our business community, as well as to celebrate the strength of the business ties between our two nations.

I had the pleasure of speaking at the Council’s 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner last year.

In the time since, as you all would have seen, the government has continued its concerted efforts to restore dialogue to Australia’s relationship with China, without compromising on our national interest.

I hope that our friends at the Australia China Business Council in particular have felt the benefits of this approach.

As the Treasurer has said, the global economy is faced with a number of serious challenges.

As Australians, we cannot take for granted our ability to live in a unified and resilient community; to enjoy security in a peaceful region; or to withstand the shocks that are inevitable in an uncertain world.

The security of our economy relates directly to the security of our home.

When we invest in our economic security we invest in a key element of our statecraft.

This government seeks to combine all elements of our national power to navigate a more contested and uncertain world.

At a time of strategic contest, economic integration provides a critical incentive for peace, as regional economies share the benefits of prosperity.

But trade and economic interdependence also comes with vulnerabilities, as well as an opportunities.

Remaining resilient in the face of these challenges requires us to apply far more ambition across all arms of Australia’s national power.

That’s why this government has introduced a Future Made in Australia plan, which will change the way we attract and deploy investment and will help make us an indispensable part of the global economy.

To realise the opportunities of a Future Made in Australia, we will work proactively with our trading partners to get the most efficient and secure supply to market.

China is our largest trading partner.

It is in Australia’s national interest to have constructive relationships with our largest trading partners.

We have, through calm and consistent engagement, restored dialogue with China.

But this isn't only up to us.

Dialogue goes both ways, and both countries have to choose to come back to the table.

Both countries have made that choice.

Under the Morrison government, China effectively closed the door to many of our exports.

However, as a result of our calm and consistent approach – paired with a great deal of hard work and advocacy by industry – most of the Australian products previously subject to impediments have been able to re-enter China’s market.

That includes coal, cotton, timber logs, barley and wine, among others.

That’s reducing the trade impediments imposed by China from $20 billion to under $1 billion.

But the government is clear-eyed about the challenges.

We know that China will continue to assert itself in reshaping the region and the world.

China's interests will, at times, differ from our interests.

And there are going to be issues on which we disagree.

We continue to press, for example, for impediments on live rock lobster and two red meat establishments to be resolved as soon as possible.

This has been consistently reinforced at the highest levels.

This is the reality of two close trading partners with different systems, values and approaches to the world.

It is in the interests of both our countries to continue to engage - at the people-to-people level, at the business-to-business level and at the government-to-government level.

This will of course be the last ACBC Canberra Executive Dinner and Networking day before next year's Federal election.

In the lead up to the last election, our approach to engagement with China was described by then senior members of the Morrison government and now senior members of the Opposition as ‘appeasement’.

Some of us were even labelled ‘Manchurian candidates’ by the Morrison government.

These statements have never been disavowed by the senior leadership of the current opposition.

These statements have however been disproven by our record and the reality that stabilisation and calm and consistent engagement with China has never meant concession, or an assumption that relations can return to precisely what they were.

This engagement means that we have more avenues through which to navigate challenges and advocate for our national interest.

We are positioning ourselves to capitalise on the opportunities that the future presents, and we hope that you will help take advantage of these.

Each of you and the organisations you represent has a key role to play in ensuring Australia’s future is peaceful, stable and prosperous.

Thank you again to the Australia China Business Council for hosting us this evening and for providing a forum that will no doubt lead to thought-provoking discussion.