Mr PETER MORRIS —My question is addressed to the Acting Prime Minister. Is it the case that, as reported in the Australian Financial Review today, Australia's major initiative for APEC—a proposal for free trade in primary energy products by 2000, which was also the centrepiece of the Prime Minister's first major speech on APEC in August—is dead in the water? Given that Australia's other major APEC proposal for a regional business travel card is also reported to be limping, is it not the case that next week's APEC meeting is looming as another major foreign policy embarrassment for the coalition government?

Mr COSTELLO —The government places enormous importance on next week's APEC meeting. The Prime Minister will be attending that conference in order to press the momentum for trade liberalisation within APEC and globally—the matter he discussed with President Clinton yesterday. The Prime Minister proposed at a meeting in Sydney on 1 August that APEC examine the idea of free trade in primary energy before APEC's 2010 and 2020 target dates, and perhaps by the year 2000. This was because the reliable and efficient provision of energy was fundamental to economic growth in the region. It was estimated that removing tariff measures by 2000 in primary energy would increase APEC's real GDP by around $4.5 billion annually. As a major energy exporter, Australia would stand to share in these benefits.

The government believes that that proposal will take close consideration, and that consideration may take some time. The Minister for Trade and the Department of Primary Industries and Energy are actively pursuing the proposal. As one might imagine, pursuing the proposal will be a matter of extensive discussions and consultations which will continue leading up to this week's meeting. In relation to the business visa, discussions on that are still continuing through the APEC forum. The government has had some positive responses to this initiative. The government expects to have more in the coming days.