Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The truth is they do not want to hear the truth on these free trade agreements. There is a reason they were not negotiated under the last government: because we were sticking up for the automotive industry and against the implications of these FTAs for the automotive industry, and then you killed the automotive industry.

The other sticking point is the investor-state dispute settlement clauses, clauses that give foreign corporations more power to sue the Australian government than home-based corporations. These are clauses that are opposed not only by the Labor Party but also by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, hardly a Labor puppet. They are also opposed by the Productivity Commission. The pre-eminent free trade institution in this country opposes ISDS clauses and says that they reduce the net benefit to Australia. The truth is that these agreements are sub-optimal. They impact negatively on the welfare of Australia in many areas, including the ISDS clauses. On the China free trade agreement, the labour mobility clauses are unprecedented in selling out the rights of Australians. The IFAs provide no requirement for labour market testing. All we have seen is a vague flow chart from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that they somehow would think about labour market testing at some point in the future. I say to the government: if they are certain they will test the labour market, put it in legislation—amend the Migration Act to confirm that labour market testing will apply to IFAs and other provisions under the China free trade agreement.

The second aspect of the labour mobility provisions that is very worrying goes to the requirement to only pay the minimum wage and not the market rate. That has the effect of driving down wages in this country. If you are only required to pay the minimum wage—rather than, for example, the enterprise agreement wage—you are going to drive down wages in these very important professions.

Thirdly, chapter 10 of the free trade agreement makes it very clear that, if you purchase Chinese capital equipment, you can bring in Chinese labour to install and service that equipment. Chapter 10 makes it very clear that will occur without labour market testing and without any requirement to pay market rates of pay.

The truth is that those on the other side are very sensitive about this agreement, because it is cutting in their electorates. It is cutting in their electorates because they are selling out Australian worker's rights. They are selling out the rights of Australian workers on two fundamental premises: to test the labour market and to pay market rates of pay. They are two fundamental principles that we will keep driving home, because the free trade agreement, as presently constructed, will hurt Australian workers, will drive down wages and will not be to the net benefit of Australia.

Debate adjourned.

See this speech in context