Australian, Tongan and Fijian opponents to a new Pacific trade agreement will give evidence at a parliamentary hearing tomorrow.

Media release issue date: Wednesday, 2 September 2020

Australian, Tongan and Fijian opponents to a new Pacific trade agreement will give evidence at a parliamentary hearing tomorrow. Witnesses from the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) and Public Services International will provide evidence at the hearing, part of an inquiry into the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus). Chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee’s Sub-Committee on Trade, Dr John McVeigh, says the hearing is an important opportunity for the Sub-Committee to hear all views on Pacific trade. PACER Plus is an agreement yet to be ratified with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum that it is hoped will encourage a stronger regional trading system between Pacific island countries. Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website. Public hearing details Date: Thursday 3 September 2020 Times: 10:00 am to 11:15 am Location: Committee Room IR3, Parliament House, Canberra The hearing will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live. Media enquiries The Hon Dr John McVeigh MP, Sub-Committee Chair Contact: Clare Siddins/Nikki Phillips (07) 4632 4144 For background information Committee Secretariat (02) 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear from a range of academics and training providers both in Australia and in Fiji at a public hearing today for its inquiry into Australia’s trade with Pacific island countries.

Media release issue date: Thursday, 27 August 2020

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear from a range of academics and training providers both in Australia and in Fiji at a public hearing today for its inquiry into Australia’s trade with Pacific island countries. Chair of the Committee’s Trade Sub-Committee, Dr John McVeigh MP, said the hearing will investigate the views of these economists and training providers on activating trade between Australia and Pacific island countries. The sub-committee wants to better understand how the implementation of a new development-centred trade agreement, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus), with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum will encourage Pacific island countries to prosper in a regional trading system and encourage more Australian and islander businesses to trade in goods and services. Public hearing details Date: Thursday 27 August 2020 Time: 10:00am to 11:15am Location: Committee Room IR3, Parliament House, Canberra. The hearing will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live. Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website. Media enquiries The Hon Dr John McVeigh MP, Sub-Committee Chair Contact:Clare Siddins/Nikki Phillips (07) 4632 4144 For background Committee Secretariat (02) 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au

The parliamentary inquiry into activating trade with Pacific Island countries will hear tomorrow from an ANU economist and also a Tasmanian power services company providing renewable energy across the Pacific.

Media release issue date: Wednesday, 17 June 2020

The parliamentary inquiry into activating trade with Pacific Island countries will hear tomorrow from an ANU economist and also a Tasmanian power services company providing renewable energy across the Pacific. The Trade Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will hear evidence from the Director of the Development Policy Centre at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Professor Stephen Howes, followed by a video-conference with representatives of power company Entura discussing their projects in the Pacific. Sub-Committee Chair Dr John McVeigh reminds people with an interest in this issue that submissions to the inquiry are open until 30 June. A full program for the hearing, as well as submissions to the inquiry, are available on the inquiry website. Public hearing details Date: Thursday 18 June, 2020 Time: 9.45 am to 11.20 am Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra The hearing will be streamed online at aph.gov.au/live. Media inquiries Dr John McVeigh MP Chair, Trade Sub-Committee Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (02) 6277 4277

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear from the Institute for International Trade and then from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime at a public hearing tomorrow for its inquiry into Australia’s trade with Pacific island countries.

Media release issue date: Wednesday, 13 May 2020

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear from the Institute for International Trade and then from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime at a public hearing tomorrow for its inquiry into Australia’s trade with Pacific island countries. Chair of the Committee’s Trade Sub-Committee, Dr John McVeigh MP, said the hearing will investigate the views of the Institute for International Trade on implementation of a new development-centred trade agreement, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus), with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum. The sub-committee wants to better understand how PACER Plus will encourage Pacific island countries to prosper in a regional trading system, overcome any loss of tariffs and tax revenue, benefit from Aid for Trade programs, and encourage more Australian and islander businesses to trade in goods and services. While Australia is seeking to activate greater trade and investment opportunities with the Pacific region, the sub-committee also wants to hear the latest on combatting corruption from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the progress of its UN Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Project. Public hearing details: Date: Thursday 14 May 2020 Time: 9:45am to 11:20am Location: Committee Room 1R2, Parliament House, Canberra. The hearing will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live. Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website. Media enquiries: The Hon Dr John McVeigh MP, Sub-Committee Chair Contact:Clare Siddins/Nikki Phillips (07) 4632 4144 For background: Committee Secretariat (02) 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au For more information about this Committee, you can visit its website. On the site, you can make a submission to an inquiry, read other submissions, and get details for upcoming public hearings. You can also track the Committee and receive email updates by clicking on the blue ‘Track Committee’ button in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear tomorrow from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade at a public hearing for its inquiry into activating trade and investment between Australia and Pacific island countries.

Media release issue date: Thursday, 27 February 2020

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear tomorrow from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade at a public hearing for its inquiry into activating trade and investment between Australia and Pacific island countries. Chair of the Committee’s Trade Sub-Committee, Dr John McVeigh MP, said the hearing will focus in part on the economic flow-on effects for Australia’s cadre of seasonal workers. ‘More than 12,000 seasonal workers came from the Pacific island countries in 2018-19 to work on Australia’s farms, in our orchards and in other sectors,’ Dr McVeigh said. ‘The World Bank tells us these workers sent an average of $9,000 each home in 2018, resulting in a net income gain of $144 million to the Pacific region.’ ‘This income was especially concentrated in high participant countries such as Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu.’ The sub-committee wants to better understand how the Australia Government and its agencies are seeking to activate greater trade and investment opportunities with the Pacific region. ‘The sub-committee will explore some issues related to the popular Seasonal Worker Programme and the more recent Pacific Labour Scheme have been raised in submissions to the inquiry and also in an earlier hearing, but also investigate what is being done to encourage more investment and trade in goods and services between Australia and the Pacific island countries,’ Dr McVeigh said. The sub-committee will also investigate the latest developments and implementation of a new development-centred trade agreement, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus), with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum. ‘We’re keen to explore how PACER Plus will help Pacific island countries benefit from the regional trading system, develop economies and encourage Australian and islander businesses to grow two way trade in goods and services,’ Dr McVeigh said. Public hearing details: Date: Thursday 27 February 2020 Time: 9:45am to 11:15am Location: Committee Room IR4, Parliament House, Canberra. The hearing will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live. Submissions from any person, businesses or organisations with an interest in the issues raised by these terms of reference are welcome. Submissions addressing all or some of the terms of reference should be lodged by 23 March 2020. Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website. Media enquiries: The Hon Dr John McVeigh MP, Sub-Committee Chair Contact: Clare Siddins/Nikki Phillips (07) 4632 4144 For background: Committee Secretariat (02) 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has launched a new inquiry into activating trade and investment between Australia and Pacific island countries.

Media release issue date: Tuesday, 3 December 2019

The Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has launched a new inquiry into activating trade and investment between Australia and Pacific island countries. Chair of the Committee’s Trade Sub-Committee, Mr Ted O’Brien MP, said parliamentarians wanted to understand how to activate greater trade and investment opportunities with the Pacific region, not only to benefit Australia, but also our Pacific neighbours. “Pacific Island nations might be in our backyard, but let’s not forget that Australia is also in theirs,” Mr O’Brien said. “We’re far more than just trading nations, we’re neighbours who can mutually benefit by activating greater trade and investment opportunities, which is why we’re launching this parliamentary inquiry. “We want to hear all the stories – the good and the bad – from practitioners in the field. We want to learn from businesses who are successfully exporting into the Pacific as well as from those who have tried and failed. We also want to hear from businesses who, right now, are weighing up the pros and cons, the risks versus the opportunities, of trading in the Pacific,” he said. “Free trade is good for those nations which embrace it, and so we want this inquiry to examine the conditions that will help activate even more trade and investment opportunities, with the people of the Pacific and Australia all coming out winners.” The inquiry follows Australia signing a new development-centred trade agreement, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus), with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum. ‘We’re keen to explore how PACER Plus will help Pacific island countries become more active partners, and benefit from, the regional trading system,’ Mr O’Brien said. Submissions from any person, businesses or organisations with an interest in the issues raised by these terms of reference are welcome. Submissions addressing all or some of the terms of reference should be lodged by 11 February 2020, with overseas submissions due on 18 February 2020. Further details about the about the inquiry, including terms of reference, details on how to contribute a submission and, when available, details of public hearings and roundtable discussions, can be obtained from the Committee’s website. Media enquiries: Mr Ted O’Brien MP, Sub-Committee Chair Contact Ms Karlee Hooper (07) 5479 2800 / 0401 257 064 Email karlee.hooper@aph.gov.au For background: Committee Secretariat (02) 6277 2313 jscfadt@aph.gov.au