Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is trying to salvage what he can from the scrapped Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), telling a Canadian economic forum in Sydney the free trade deal still has merit.
Mr Turnbull reiterated his commitment to capturing the TPP's "enormous economic and strategic benefits" despite President Donald Trump pulling the US, the agreement's largest partner, out of the deal last month.
Australia is not giving up the fight for a revised agreement and will push for the deal at a meeting in Chile next month, and has also been in talks with New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia on the way forward.
"While Australia is disappointed by the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific-Partnership, we are continuing to talk to the other signatories, including Canada about how we can use the work that has been done to capture the TPP's enormous economic and strategic benefits," Mr Turnbull told the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum in Sydney on Tuesday.
Mr Turnbull also acknowledged former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the audience, joking about Australia's revolving door of prime ministers.
"Stephen led a decade of remarkable economic and political stability, and was perhaps left scratching his head at the number of Australian prime ministers he met during his tenure," he said.
