Australia will propose additional measures to assuage concerns that the free-trade accord with China goes too far in opening up the labor market.
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Trade Minister Andrew Robb has told a coalition party room meeting he will consider the draft but wants to reassure himself the opposition is proposing “something of substance”. Labor MP Jim Chalmers earlier told reporters there was an opportunity for the two sides of politics to come together and put in place complementary safeguards.
The government would not be varying anything in the agreement itself, as doing so could lead to China walking away from it, he warned.
It also abolishes mandatory skills assessments for certain trades occupations.
Employers entering investment facilitation arrangement work agreements would be required to advertise jobs locally before turning to overseas workers.
Foreign workers in trades such as electrical work and plumbing would need obtain the relevant occupational licence or registration within 60 days of arriving in Australia.
LABOR MPs on Tuesday are expected to sign-off on measures to protect Australian jobs from an influx of foreign workers they fear the deal will create. There is no limit on the number of Chinese workers who may be employed.
Mr Shorten would not comment on Labor’s alternative position if the government rejects the changes.
A senior Government source said if any proposal from Labor was accepted it would be motivated by getting the FTA into force by the end of the year to secure hundreds of millions of dollars of tariff relief for key industries.
There was dissent over the decision to drop a demand that the agreement be stripped of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism, which would enable a Chinese company legal recourse against a policy decision by an Australian or state government should it feel it contravened the aggreement.
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Shorten said the opposition had crafted its amendments in a way that did not require a reopening of negotiations with Beijing on the treaty text, but would “make sure that all Australians can be winners out of a China free trade agreement”.
