“The China free trade agreement…is absolutely identical to agreements that were done in government by the Labor party”.
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In any case, on Sunday, Leader Bill Shorten said he was requesting that the administration verify that Australian employments “don’t finish over in this hurry to do this arrangement”.
The Business Council of Australia called on Labor leader Bill Shorten on Wednesday to heed the advice of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill and New South Wales Opposition Leader Luke Foley.
Standing alongside Andrew Hastie, the Liberal candidate in the Canning by-election, he said people should use the poll to send a message to Mr Shorten to stop obstructing this deal.
“This will damage the competitiveness and affordability of all Australian products in China and set Australian agriculture back $300 million in 2016”.
But Mr Shorten yesterday said Mr Abbott should “get off his high horse” and negotiate with the Opposition on the trade deal.
Treasurer Joe Hockey warned China’s patience was “wearing thin”. “It is the best deal that China has done with any developed economy”.
“It doesn’t need any agreement with the Chinese, and it certainly doesn’t offend the FTA agreement with the Chinese”.
Trade unions, especially the CFMEU, have been strongly opposing the trade deal, promoting the possibility of Australian workers losing jobs due to their Chinese counterparts.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, which has headed the campaign, said the deal was unprecedented and “sells out Australian workers”.
‘There will be some positions which will be exempt from skills assessments but the workers will still be required to meet licensing requirements before they can work without supervision in Australia, ‘ said national president Angela Chan.
Hectoring and name-calling is an all-too-frequent aspect of Australian political discourse, but that a debate about an important aspect of Australia’s economic future (and national interest) should be shorn of all nuance and reduced to caricature is concerning. Trade Minister Andrew Robb says there are some exceptions for senior executives and professionals within a Chinese company, which were also allowed under the previous Labor government.
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Labor, which is closely aligned with the unions, could potentially try to block the laws enabling the deal in the Senate, or Upper House, where the ruling Coalition does not have a majority.
