Australia's top diplomat has expressed frustration with the slow progress of free trade talks with China, suggesting there is unlikely to be a deal for many years to come.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary Dennis Richardson says despite 17 rounds of negotiations since April 2005, a final free trade agreement is still a very long way off.
"Quite frankly the progress has been frustratingly slow," he told parliamentarians.
"And speaking frankly I don't see a free trade agreement with China as being just around the corner either.
"I think there's as much hard work ahead of us, as what there is already behind us."
Mr Richardson made the comments while appearing before a parliamentary committee into the widely-acknowledged inadequacy of Australia's overseas representation.
Australia has the smallest diplomatic footprint of all G20 nations, with just 95 missions in 77 countries.
On average, most developed nations have missions in about 130 of the 193 UN-recognised countries.
Mr Richardson told the committee that with more funding his top priority would be to send more diplomats to China.
"I'm on the public record as saying that I think our diplomatic representation in China is underdone, particularly in Western China," he said.
Fifteen to 20 years ago Australia was a leader in its representation there, he said.
"We have now fallen behind many other countries," he said.
Mr Richardson said he would also open a proper post in Mongolia, which is in the midst of a mining boom, and boost representation in French-speaking Africa.
He also wants to have a consulate-general on the Thai island of Phuket to better help Australians who get in trouble in the area.
But Mr Richardson also repeated his views that Australians expect too much of DFAT and the government when travelling overseas.
"In general, there are unrealistic expectations about what any Australian government can or can't do," he said.
The size of the commonwealth public sector has ballooned by about 60 per cent since 1997 but DFAT's overall staffing has flat-lined.
Its resourcing has shrunk from 0.43 per cent to 0.25 per cent of government spending, despite a vastly increased workload.
