Craig Laundy (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline how the government is boosting jobs and growth through the free trade agreement with China in my electorate of Reid and throughout Australia? What are the threats to this historic agreement?

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for that question. I really do appreciate it.

Mr Watts interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Gellibrand.

Mr Watts interjecting—

The member for Gellibrand is warned.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Prime Minister said, jobs growth in Australia is now running at 10 times the speed it was when Labor left government. Last month, there were 38,000 new jobs created. On average, in the last year of Labor there were 3,600 new jobs a month. So we are on track. Just this morning we saw some more good news. The Commonwealth Bank business sales index for July showed annual business sales growth was still very strong with sales up 7.7 per cent on a year earlier, well above the decade average of 5.3 per cent. That is great news about the Australian economy. And more great news about the Australian economy and the future of it is our commitment to the China free trade agreement. That agreement means more jobs and greater prosperity for everyday Australians wherever they are located. It means we can get more produce to market—a much bigger market. Just the growth last year in the Chinese economy was equivalent to half the size of the entire Australian economy. It illustrates the fact that they are hungry for our produce. They are hungry for the things we produce and they want to pay us well for it.

The Labor Party are all over the place on this one. Their chief critic of the China free trade agreement, Senator Penny Wong, is a spokeswoman for the CFMEU. She has put out a number of different media statements about 'misleading on the China free trade agreement' and 'advertising won't fix it' and how we are being deceptive. And then, as the Prime Minister said, Professor Bob Carr put out a statement yesterday for the Australia-China Relations Institute. I have grown a great deal of respect for Professor Carr since he left politics.

Mr Danby interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Melbourne Ports will cease interjecting. I have asked him three times.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Professor Carr points out in his statement that in the China FTA a memorandum of understanding on investment facilitation agreement states that 'the Australian government require that companies prove they have tried to find workers locally before seeking to bring any from China'. He says that 'if the China FTA is ratified any temporary workers that come to Australia will operate under the existing 457 visa regime'. That is the one the union's use. So the unions want to use it but they want to stop anyone else from using it. He went on to say that 'under the China free trade agreement the skill level will be assessed in exactly the same way as those from 150 other countries around the world'. Okay, what is the criticism of the Labor Party about the China free trade agreement? Their criticism is that it was not theirs. So now they are opposing the creation of thousands of jobs. Shame, Labor, shame! (Time expired)