OPINION: NEWLY appointed Minister for Trade Andrew Robb might bridle at the description but if, at the end of his tenure, he is known as "Mr 90 per cent" he would not be unhappy.
The 90 per cent refers to the achievement of broad-reaching bilateral and multilateral trade agreements aimed at improving trade and investment flows.
"We're not going to hold out for 100 per cent [in these negotiations]. If, say, 90 per cent is there I'll put it to cabinet,'' he says.
In a conversation, Robb nominated a trade and investment agenda that would be ambitious, if only partially realised.
This includes completion of the China, Korea and Japan Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), conclusion of the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and renewed efforts to bring to fruition a trade in services agreement under the stalled Doha round.
Trade analyst Alan Oxley says Robb's task will be to "restore trade as a tool for advancing Australia's economic interests". Oxley is a critic of the "greening" of trade policy under Labor, in which environmental and labour considerations came to the surface.
In his role as salesman-in-chief for trade and investment opportunities in Australia, Robb will be spending a lot of time on the road in the government's efforts to persuade the international investment community Australia is "open for business", as Prime Minister Tony Abbott put it in his inaugural statement as PM-elect.
Some might argue we were hardly "closed for business", but it is the case the outgoing government demonstrated a befuddled approach on the mining and carbon taxes, and outright incompetence when it came to interrupting the live cattle trade to Indonesia.
All this affected the country's sovereign risk profile, not helped by the decision to block – on questionable grounds – the Singapore stock exchange's merger with the Australian Stock Exchange.
GrainCorp takeover
Robb would not be drawn on where he stands on what is shaping as the first big test of a Coalition's attitude to foreign investment. This is the proposed Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) takeover of GrainCorp.
ADM will go back to the Foreign Investment Review Board for approval, against opposition from sections of the National Party and the farming community.
The importance of the GrainCorp decision cannot be overstated in early assessments of an Abbott-led government's commitment facilitating foreign investment.
Yielding to agro-nationalists like newly anointed Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce would convey a mixed signal to foreign investors.
Such an outcome would have chilling implications for investment in agri-businesses across the board, including farmland.
Maurice Newman, designated chair of Abbott's business advisory council, sees no compelling argument to block the ADM takeover on national interest, or any other grounds.
In his view GrainCorp needs to grow to survive in a global grain-trading marketplace dominated by the ADMs and Cargills.
Huawei and the NBN
Then there is the issue of Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant and its assiduous efforts to gain access to a tendering process for the National Broadband Network, and thus override security concerns.
Abbott's clampdown on lobbying by individuals aligned with the Coalition sends the right signal, but his distinction between a Liberal "powerbroker" and a lobbyist may be difficult to police. Is former foreign minister Alexander Downer and member of Huawei's advisory board a "powerbroker" or a "lobbyist", or both? I'm told Downer has been bending the ears of his former parliamentary colleagues on Huawei's behalf.
We might suggest – in Downer's case – "neither a powerbroker nor lobbyist be!"
Critical portfolio
But back to Robb's portfolio responsibilities, whose significance might not have been entirely understood.
This is a critical area for the government, assuming one of his tasks will be to attract new investment into Australia's northern tier.
In the meantime, he has more than enough on his hands in coming to grips with all the complexities of trade policy, including a pick-up in the tempo of discussions on the TPP, whose 12 participants account for 40 per cent of global gross domestic product.
Japan's decision earlier this year to join those negotiations is significant, along with indications from China it may be having second thoughts about its early opposition.
Robb has a lot to play for in his portfolio, but then the same might have been said about his predecessors Mark Vaile in the John Howard government, and Simon Crean and Craig Emerson under Labor, all of whom found the going tough.
