Trade Minister Craig Emerson has brought an erratic, confused and ineffectual approach to trade negotiations that has placed many Australian exporters at a disadvantage with their competitors overseas.
Minister Emerson said yesterday that negotiations for a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China have effectively collapsed.
Yet as recently as 10 days ago, Craig Emerson spoke about his "high ambition" for an FTA with China and that it would encompass agriculture, services, foreign investment, temporary visas and manufactured goods.
That was in contradiction to his statement just over 12 months ago that "Free trade agreements, I think frankly, are overrated in what they can achieve in terms of a relationship between Australia and China”.