Mr WAKELIN (3.11 p.m.) —My question is addressed to the Minister for Small Business and Tourism. Would the minister advise the House of the benefits to small business of the United States-Australia free trade agreement? Are there any alternative policies?

Mr HOCKEY —I thank the member for Grey for his question. I know he would appreciate the benefits of the free trade agreement. He is a tuna fisherman in Port Lincoln, which is the tuna capital of Australia and is on the threshold of becoming the tuna capital of the world. There is no doubt about that. With the abolition of a 35 per cent tariff on canned tuna, the opportunities are endless for the tuna industry in Australia to access the enormous American market. Australia's 1.1 million small businesses would be very pleased with the free trade agreement with the United States, because it provides opportunities that Australian small business have never had to access the world's biggest market.

When the news came through on Monday that the Minister for Trade had signed a deal, I thought to myself, `This is a no-brainer for the Labor Party to support: it's good for small business, it's good for rural and regional Australia, and it brings new money into the Australian economy.' So I went to my little file—Aladdin's cave that it is—and thought that the member for Werriwa would back us, but I found a quote from the old member for Werriwa, who said, `Tariffs and other forms of protection are the economic equivalents of racism.'

Mr Howard —Who would have said that?

Mr HOCKEY —The old member for Werriwa said that—the Leader of the Opposition, who once was the old member for Werriwa. I would have thought that the current Leader of the Opposition—who `once was Werriwa'—would have said that it is good for small business to have unrestricted access to the annual $200 billion US government purchasing program. I would have thought that the member for Werriwa would have said, `It's good for small business people to have the chance to use their Australian training and their educational qualifications unrestricted in the United States. And I would have thought that the member for Werriwa would have said that it is good for small business people, particularly those in the services industry, which represents 70 per cent of the Australian economy, to have free and open access to the US market.

If we need any evidence of the benefits to small business, I saw it when I went straight to one of the Telstra small business winners, a South Australian company, Techno-Plas. They manufacture plastics. They said that 18 months ago they looked at the US market and it looked too hard, they just could not go in there. They have advised me that they are going to go back to the US market after the announcement of the free trade agreement. It is not just one business; it is many businesses. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that the FTA is `a high-quality agreement which benefits the whole Australian economy, including the manufacturing, services, agricultural, mining and investment sectors'. If the member for Werriwa did not want to listen to them, he could have listened to the Northern Territory Chamber of Commerce, which said that the free trade agreement could put the Northern Territory on the American business map. We believe in going forward. We believe in the forward interests of the Australian people. We believe in putting money on the table for Australian small business by providing them with business opportunities in the world's biggest markets. We are about the future. The Labor Party is about the past. We might have a new member for Werriwa but he has old Labor ideas.

Mr Howard —Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.