Senator Tim Ayres: So, it’s the Senate’s time to shine. This is another week of the Senate in Parliament delivering on the Albanese Government’s agenda. We will see Senators working hard on delivering all the pieces of legislation that are in front of us, it is part of our determination to make sure that the parliament works for Australians. Towards the end of this week, we will see the Albanese Government deliver on its commitment to the Australian people around the health of the Murray Darling River system as the Murray Darling legislation is presented to the Senate for the first time.

Of course, this is the week where the Prime Minister is in China, and the Government has been working in a careful and deliberate way on removing trade impediments; almost 90% of those impediments have been removed. We are still to see final progress of course in terms of wine and lobster.

I just want to make a point that the trade impediments put in place by China, which of course should never have been imposed in the first place, have had their deepest impact in regional communities and our country communities.

That’s why the government has worked so hard in a careful and deliberate way at removing those trade impediments and that’s going to make a big difference in regional communities. One out of four Australian jobs rely on trade, trade firms exposed to international trade provide better jobs than firms that don’t trade with the rest of the world.

So good jobs in the Australian economy rely upon on our commitment to trade and that’s why the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Trade Minister have been working so hard in a careful and deliberate way in removing those trade impediments with China.

I expect to see the Prime Minister over the course of today in Beijing continuing to represent the Australian national interest.

ENDS.