A strong relationship with Europe and the European Union is a high priority for the Australian Government.
The EABC plays a key role in strengthening our institutional, economic and commercial links.
We are likeminded and trusted partners, and cooperation has never been more important.
Australia would like an ambitious and comprehensive trade agreement between Australia and the EU to be finalized swiftly.
The Government thanks the EABC for your support on this.
We are now six sleeps until the 2023 Budget.
A Budget shaped by our ambitions for the Australian people, and the international pressures we face.
Let’s look at those pressures.
The Prime Minister clearly outlined this is “the most challenging strategic circumstances since the Second World War, both in our region and indeed around the world”.
The Reserve Bank tells us “financial stability risks had increased globally”.
And the consensus of our region that “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific” as stated and restated at the Pacific Island Forum.
So there is much to act upon and respond to.
This year, our focus as a government is on providing stability, confidence and security.
Stability in people’s daily lives.
Confidence in our economy.
Security for our nation.
We maintain in all we do a strong commitment to justice and social inclusion that benefits all Australians.
The government, elected less than a year ago, has an ambitious agenda.
Ambition which we seek to deliver upon in an orderly way.
Strong climate action is at the top of our agenda and a clear priority for the Australian people.
We know the world has been looking to our nation to catch up.
And we have.
Across Australia government, capital and labour is moving to grab the opportunities of the global net zero transformation.
Our security environment is changing too.
Like many liberal democracies, we face security challenges at home, in our region, and around the world.
We seek to confront these challenges.
That is why we have been working with industry to counter disinformation and misinformation — a serious challenge facing all democratic nations.
We have boosted our capacity to discover, track and disrupt foreign interference.
And we are working hard to bolster our cyber security defences.
Partnership is key to Australia’s approach to security in our region.
The Prime Minister was delighted to meet the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at last year’s NATO Summit and in the margins of the G20 Summit in Bali in November.
Last week, we released the public version of the Defence Strategic Review — an independent, expert assessment of the challenges we face.
The Government’s response which sets out a blueprint for our strategic policy, defence planning and resourcing over the coming decades.
Australia also faces major economic challenges in the year ahead.
Inflation remains high, the cash rate is now at 3.85 per cent, and cost-of-living pressures are placing a strain on household budgets.
We are acting to tackle these challenges while building a resilient, innovative and growing economy.
Our economic growth and diversification agenda again has partnership at the core.
Establishing a National Reconstruction Fund to rebuild Australia’s industrial base.
Securing Australian jobs by establishing Jobs and Skills Australia.
Boosting women’s economic equality through gender responsive budgeting and working to close the gender pay gap including through the Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms,
Delivering safer, more affordable housing through the Housing Accord, the Help to Buy program, and the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Australia and the European Union both recognise that social policy is not a cost, but an investment in our people.
The European Pillar of Social Rights embodies this.
As the EU Commission President von der Leyen said “I believe it is time to also adapt the social rulebook. A rulebook which ensures solidarity between generations. A rulebook that rewards entrepreneurs who take care of their employees.”
The Albanese Government is equally focused on delivering high-quality, reliable services for all Australians.
We embrace our responsibilities to ensure health and wellbeing, promote gender equality, and encourage greater workforce participation and flexibility.
You see it across our government.
Implementing a plan for cheaper child care,
Extending paid parental leave to six months,
Establishing 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave,
Strengthening Medicare and making it easier to see a doctor,
Addressing aged care crisis to ensure older Australians receive the care they deserve.
Repairing the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
This is also about showing democracy in action.
Democracy delivering meaningful change.
Australia knows that we have a responsibility as a beacon for democracy.
Many of our democratic institutions come from Europe.
And those ties are on display this week with the Coronation of King Charles III.
Australia knows that to strengthen democracy globally we must also strengthen our institutions at home.
That is why in our first year we established a National Anti-Corruption Commission to deliver greater transparency and accountability in our politics.
Later this year we are offering all Australians the opportunity to vote to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution.
This is the best chance Australia has to address the injustices of the past and move us forward as a nation.
For 122 years, our founding document has failed to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
More than 65,000 years of continuous connection to this land ignored in our Constitution.
It is a historic democratic opportunity for a unifying Australian moment.
And I hope that the democracies of Europe will be inspired by the decision of the Australian people.
From democracy to security.
Keeping the nation safe is the solemn duty of every government.
Australia is committed to working with partners to ensure a secure, safe and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and world.
Partnership is essential as Australia and Europe face similar strategic challenges.
We seek to ensure like-minded nations work together, no matter our geographic distance.
For more than 400 days Russia’s unprovoked, illegal and immoral war in Ukraine has continued to rage.
The rules-based global order is under increasing strain.
So we must continue to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
And seek to manage the ripple effects of uncertainty in our own region.
Australia acts to ensure our region is stable, prosperous and respectful of sovereignty.
We acknowledge Europe has a key role to play in the Indo-Pacific region.
European nations are major providers of development assistance and infrastructure financing, and as an important supporter of security and stability.
So we welcome the EU’s increased focus and engagement with our region — through, in particular, its IndoPacific Strategy, Global Gateway Initiative, and development assistance.
Russia’s war has also highlighted the vulnerability of supply chain dependency.
European nations have taken significant steps to reduce their reliance on Russian energy.
Australia can help meet the need for alternative energy supplies.
Australia and Europe also share immediate economic priorities, particularly addressing rising costs of living and dealing with the effects of inflation and a higher interest rate environment.
And we’re both focussed on addressing the climate crisis.
Australia also looks forward to engaging constructively on the EU’s regulatory agenda, particularly given our shared commitment to global norms and free and open markets.
So there’s a big agenda for cooperation between Australia and Europe.
I will conclude highlighting three areas of opportunity:
First, promoting global trade and upholding the multilateral trading system,
Second, achieving an orderly transition to net zero emissions,
Third, increasing trade and investment flows.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated fragilities in the global economy — constraining growth, increasing inflation, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks.
This has affected all of us in different ways.
Together, we need to work to uphold the global, rules-based trading system, and return stability to a fragmented global economy.
Australia is committed to restoring stability in global markets.
Free, open and transparent trade has never been so important.
An effective multilateral trading system — with the WTO at its core — must underpin this.
The WTO is vital to our prosperity and security, and will continue to underpin global economic progress.
Australia is committed to working with like-minded partners to implement the outcomes achieved at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference last June, including having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system by 2024.
We’re also strongly opposed to the use of economic coercion and will work with others to respond to such practices.
I know Prime Minister Albanese reiterated these messages when he met European Council President Michel and European Commission President von der Leyen in Bali in November.
Australia is also promoting trade in broader multilateral forums — like the G20, APEC and the OECD.
And we’re working bilaterally to enhance economic cooperation, too.
After all, trade and investment is crucial to our nation’s growth story.
It’s given us more secure, higher-paying jobs and an internationally competitive economy.
In fact, recent analysis shows one in four Australian jobs is related to international trade.
And foreign direct investment in Australia was worth over $1 trillion in 2021, or around half of our economy.
We want to make it even easier for our businesses to trade globally.
So we’re looking to streamline Australia’s trade system, ease pressure on supply chains, and make it cheaper for Australian importers and exporters to do business.
For instance, we’re working with industry to design simpler trade regulations and more modern border systems. This will benefit close to 200,000 Australian importers and exporters.
Like our European partners, Australia understands the need to move quickly and ambitiously towards net zero emissions.
We have committed to reduce emissions by 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net zero by 2050.
We’ve also reformed our Safeguard Mechanism to ensure our 215 biggest industrial emitters contribute their proportional share towards achieving these targets.
This reform means our largest emitters will cut their emissions by nearly 5 per cent every year, putting them on the path to net zero by 2050.
Last month, we announced Australia’s first National Electric Vehicle Strategy to increase the supply of electric vehicles and encourage their rapid uptake.
Australia has also joined the Global Methane Pledge — which the EU and US launched in 2021.
We are acting to boost the share of renewable electricity generation in Australia to our target of 82 per cent by 2030.
Along with many European countries, we’ve also committed to the Equal by 30 Campaign — to ensure equal pay, equal leadership, and equal opportunities for women in the clean energy sector by 2030.
Australia is determined to seize the economic opportunities of the net zero transformation.
We aspire to be a renewable energy superpower: exporting clean energy, value-added low emissions products, critical minerals, and green fuels, to the world.
Australia knows we can’t do this alone.
In fact, International Energy Agency analysis shows that, globally, we need to triple clean energy investment by 2030.
Australia’s climate ambitions and agenda are closely aligned with our key European partners.
Already, we’re cooperating with Germany and the Netherlands to advance the development of our renewable hydrogen industries.
We are also well-placed to export critical minerals and rare earths to European countries,
as well as add value and export manufactured products vital in the renewable energy supply chain.
We can also play a role in helping ensure that, as much as possible, the Indo-Pacific and Europe take consistent approaches in areas like regulations and standards for renewable innovations.
Investment by European companies already comprises 20 per cent of total solar and wind energy generation projects in the Australian grid.
Australia welcomes even greater investment in the future.
The Albanese Government is seeking to deepen and diversify Australia’s trade links.
This means greater diversity in who we trade with — and greater variety in what we trade.
Making our economy more resilient and secure.
As I said earlier, one in four Australian jobs is related to international trade.
That is why finalising an EU-Australia free trade agreement is a top priority for the Albanese Government.
And it will be a key moment in taking Australia’s partnership with Europe to the next level.
The EU is a high-income market of almost 450 million people with a GDP of AU$23 trillion.
As a bloc, the EU is already the second-largest investor in Australia, as well as our third largest two-way trading partner, after China and Japan.
Australia seeks an agreement in our national interest, including by delivering new, commercially-significant market access for our agricultural products.
As you would know, Australia and the UK signed an FTA in December 2021.
This agreement will enhance our already strong economic partnership with the UK.
The FTA creates new export opportunities and jobs for our businesses by eliminating tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports to the UK.
The FTA passed our Parliament in November, and I look forward to it coming into force soon.
Thank you to the EABC for playing such a constructive role in broadening and deepening the ties between Australia and Europe.
This will become even more important in the months and years ahead.
Australia and Europe share similar strategic challenges, we have similar economic priorities, and we’re both committed to addressing the climate crisis.
We are like-minded and trusted partners.
There is a big agenda for cooperation ahead of us.
We have a long-standing and fruitful partnership.
And, as tonight proves, our people to people links are stronger than ever.
Thank you.