Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong celebrate as China lets Australia know rock lobster trade can fully recommence

The $450 million live rock lobster trade between Australia and China can fully restart effective immediately.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong — who have been working to improve ties with the Asian giant and remove Chinese tariffs on $20 billion worth of Australian goods — celebrated the notification from Beijing on Friday as a “major win”.

Australia was hit by a series of tariffs from its largest trading partners after then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into China’s handling of COVID.

With the rock lobster trade — which had been worth about $450 million a year before the dispute — fully resuming, all those tariffs are now gone.

The notification followed an agreement between Mr Albanese and his Chinese counterpart, Premier Li Qiang, in October to restart the trade by the end of 2024.

The Prime Minister said the outcome was a result of Federal Labor’s “calm and consistent approach” to stabilising relations.

“As a result of the Albanese Government’s deliberate, patient and calibrated approach, approximately $20 billion worth of trade impediments on Australian exports have been removed,” he said.

Senator Wong said it showed the Government’s approach was delivering for Australians and in the national interest.

“We said before the last election that we would work to stabilise the relationship with China, without compromising on what is important to Australians, and that is what we have done,” she said.

About 7000 tonnes of rock lobster are caught in WA each year.

The resumption means exporters will be able to sell the high-value crustaceans to Chinese importers in time for the nation’s New Year on January 29.

Western Rock Lobster CEO Matt Taylor previously told The West the industry’s recovery would not be as quick as its 2020 downturn.

South Australia and Tasmania also have live rock lobster trades.