Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That paragraph (3) be deleted and that the following be inserted:

(3) support the China-Australia FTA and call on the Government to work with the Parliament to legislate safeguards which:

(a) maximise job opportunities for Australian workers;

(b) protect overseas workers from exploitation and maintain Australian wages and conditions; and

(c) promote safety on Australian work sites by ensuring the skills and qualifications on temporary trades workers are of the highest standard.

Labor supports this amendment and the amended resolution, because otherwise here we will be again—another day, another stunt from the Abbott stunt factory of Australian politics. I can just imagine the Liberal brains trust—if that is not an oxymoron—high-fiving each other this morning. They would have rushed in and said, 'We've got a great idea. We've got a great idea—we're going to have another national time-wasting resolution from the champions of national time wasting.' They would have said, 'Let's put up a parenthood resolution on the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and try to wedge Labor.' Unfortunately, this unamended motion changes nothing about Labor's position. It is the ultimate hollow resolution of the ultimate hollow man.

The Prime Minister's motion pre-empts consideration of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. The treaties committee had its latest public hearing only yesterday. The committee is still deliberating and it has set 19 October as the date for reporting to this parliament. This kind of reckless behaviour we have learned to expect from this Prime Minister—pre-empting this report—does not surprise. But this motion does provide an opportunity for me to set the record straight and to restate Labor's priorities for a China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Labor wants the best possible free trade agreement with China: a high-quality agreement that creates and protects Australian jobs and a deal that generates high-skill, fair-paying jobs here in Australia and ensures that Australians are given the first opportunity to do the work in Australia.

Firstly, in support of this, Labor believes in trade liberalisation and the bilateral and multilateral agreements which support this. We have delivered trade liberalisation when in government. It was Labor governments that reduced Australia's trade tariff barriers unilaterally in the 1980s and 1990s. It has been Labor that has opened the way for the modernisation of Australian industry and improvements in living standards for working people. It is Labor that has presided over the formation of the Cairns Group, an initiative that secured significant freeing up of world markets, delivering benefits for Australian farmers in particular. It was Labor that secured the WTO Uruguay Round Agreement, one of the most significant multilateral trade agreements of the modern era. It was Labor that has negotiated and implemented free trade agreements with Malaysia, Chile, the 10 ASEAN countries and New Zealand. And in my time in opposition we have supported the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement.

Our support for free trade is not a matter of extreme ideology or unthinking orthodoxy. We do not see the signing ceremony as the end of the game. Our goal is to always ensure free trade, open markets and economic change that works for all Australians. I stress: all Australians. Labor understands that open markets are an excellent way of achieving economic growth and that economic growth is the best way to create good jobs. But we do not just want economic growth; we want quality growth and we want the benefits fairly shared amongst all Australians. We want market access for Australian firms and we want new jobs for Australian workers.

Secondly, Labor fundamentally believes in an Australia engaged with our region. We are the party of APEC and of the Asian century. We know that more trade with Asia is an essential part of building a high-skill, high-wage future for all Australians. If Australia gets this agreement with China right, everyone can benefit. This is what Labor wants. We want our hardworking farmers to get their high-quality produce onto the Chinese market more easily. We want new opportunities for our growing services sector. And we want emerging industries, like advanced manufacturing, to get a boost too. But the fundamental point remains—we need to get the package right. For Labor, this will always mean doing the right thing by Australian workers. There is nothing for Australia to gain by entering a race to the bottom with our neighbours on wages and conditions. There will always be other countries, Mr Prime Minister, that have more people willing to work longer and for less money. Our goal should be to play on Australia's strong ground.

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