Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bushby very much for that question. I can in fact inform the Senate about the very valuable China-Australia Free Trade Agreement and the jobs and opportunities that it will create for so many Australians. It is, as I have said before, a landmark free trade agreement. It is going to open up absolutely huge opportunities for Australia's resources, for our agriculture, for manufacturing and for service industries, and it will create thousands and thousands of jobs into the future.

So it is unfortunate that those opposite, particularly at the behest of the union movement or aspects of the union movement, seem to be continuing their effort to derail the agreement by repeating what are utterly false claims in relation to investment facilitation arrangements and to labour market testing. It is a campaign which is simply disingenuous. The investment facilitation arrangements negotiated in parallel to ChAFTA will not reduce existing migration safeguards or permit overseas workers to work in Australia in preference to Australians. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection guidelines make it crystal clear that employers must demonstrate a labour market need and prove that Australians are being provided the first opportunity. There is also a mandatory requirement for employers to consult with stakeholders throughout this process, including with unions. Any suggestion that the Australian government would enter into any agreement that deprives Australians of the first opportunity for jobs is absolutely ludicrous.