❓ Mrs. Harvey questions the Premier about raising concerns with the Prime Minister regarding the impact of a COVID-19 inquiry on WA's trade exposure to China. The Premier confirms he hasn't raised that specific issue but emphasises the importance of strong trade relationships.
AnsweredQoN 255Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BARLEY EXPORTS —
CHINESE TARIFFS
255. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I thank the Premier. I have a supplementary
question. Given that, in the Premier's answer, he expressed the need
for Western Australia to continue our strong trade relationship with China, and
given our trade exposure to China, has the Premier highlighted his concerns
with the Prime Minister about the impact the COVID-19 inquiry might have on our
trade exposure; and does the Premier support the Prime Minister's call
for an inquiry?
CHINESE TARIFFS
255. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I thank the Premier. I have a supplementary
question. Given that, in the Premier's answer, he expressed the need
for Western Australia to continue our strong trade relationship with China, and
given our trade exposure to China, has the Premier highlighted his concerns
with the Prime Minister about the impact the COVID-19 inquiry might have on our
trade exposure; and does the Premier support the Prime Minister's call
for an inquiry?
AnswerView source ↗
No, I have not raised that specific
issue with the Prime Minister, but I do raise constantly in the public forum
and I have spoken to him outside of the national cabinet about the fact that we
need to have strong trading relationships with Japan, Korea, China—wherever
it may be that Western Australia sells its products. I think that is very, very
important. I know there is a lot of hostility towards some of our trading
relationships, particularly from some federal Liberal MPs from Western Australia
who have been very hostile towards some of our trading relationships. All I would
say is that that is dangerous for jobs in our state. We need to make sure that
we have balanced commentary on and a balanced approach to these issues to
ensure that our citizens are not collateral damage on other issues.
Of
course, the world needs to get to the bottom of what has happened here. This
pandemic has been a catastrophe the
likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes. We need to get to the bottom
of what has happened; how it has
happened; how it has transmitted so widely—all those things.
Notwithstanding that, we also need to make sure we keep good relationships in
place. Australia is a country of 25 million people in the Asia–Pacific
region and we need to ensure that our relationships with our neighbours and our
trading partners remain strong. I think that is just a simple statement of
commonsense and I would urge everyone across the board to adhere to that
principle.
issue with the Prime Minister, but I do raise constantly in the public forum
and I have spoken to him outside of the national cabinet about the fact that we
need to have strong trading relationships with Japan, Korea, China—wherever
it may be that Western Australia sells its products. I think that is very, very
important. I know there is a lot of hostility towards some of our trading
relationships, particularly from some federal Liberal MPs from Western Australia
who have been very hostile towards some of our trading relationships. All I would
say is that that is dangerous for jobs in our state. We need to make sure that
we have balanced commentary on and a balanced approach to these issues to
ensure that our citizens are not collateral damage on other issues.
Of
course, the world needs to get to the bottom of what has happened here. This
pandemic has been a catastrophe the
likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes. We need to get to the bottom
of what has happened; how it has
happened; how it has transmitted so widely—all those things.
Notwithstanding that, we also need to make sure we keep good relationships in
place. Australia is a country of 25 million people in the Asia–Pacific
region and we need to ensure that our relationships with our neighbours and our
trading partners remain strong. I think that is just a simple statement of
commonsense and I would urge everyone across the board to adhere to that
principle.
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