The pandemic has certainly shown us how important our trade relationships are, and has also exposed some fundamental weaknesses.

Those opposite presided over an increasingly difficult relationship with China, our largest trading partner, that had direct and painful consequences for Australian producers, with everything from wine and barley, to cotton, coal, and lobsters.

It’s clear that more could have been done over the previous decade to shield Australian exporters from this sort of pain.

In the previous parliament, I chaired the Indo-Pacific Trade Taskforce, and produced a report looking at how we could best diversify our exports.

We started our work in 2019 and watched up close as the 2020 trade shocks hit hard.

Labor’s approach to trade has been to look at it as a tool of nation-building to modernise the economy and, in turn, change Australian society for the better.

However, under the stewardship of those opposite, Australia’s trade position was weakened by having put too few eggs in too few baskets.

It was a “set and forget” when they turned up for the photo opp and then did nothing much afterwards.

It’s not as though this wasn’t something trade experts had warned about for years.

But what we ended up with was a narrowing export base of products facing stiff market and non-market headwinds, concentrated in a handful of key markets.

Worse, our resilience to trade shocks was eroded, given our excessive dependence on China, thanks to the former prime minister, the Member for Cook.

It was lazy, and it has cost us.

Fortunately, Labor has a plan.

We have always believed in the power of trade to create jobs and economic development in Australia.

We are the party of free, fair and open trade. 

And we want to support our exporters to pursue new markets.

Diversification is key.

We’ve already seen a number of senior ministerial visits to major regional partners such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Japan – with a special focus on revitalising our relationship with India.

We’ll be establishing a Trade 2040 Taskforce.

Recently Ministers for the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus met to discuss deepening trade cooperation in the Pacific and supporting the region’s economic recovery.  

The group now includes Tuvalu and Vanuatu, important new memberships that Australia is committed to supporting as borders reopen and they reengage in trade.

And this isn’t just good for our international relationships – it’s good for local jobs.

Exporting businesses in Australia employ almost a third more staff than non-exporting businesses, and on average pay 11 per cent higher wages.

We’ve inherited a massive trillion-dollar debt and a cost-of-living crisis as inflation climbs and businesses struggle to attract workers.

We’re addressing this through the outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit held a few days ago.

Supporting both diversified and traditional relationships is good for Australian businesses, Australian jobs and Australian wages.