Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Customs Amendment (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2015 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (China-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2015. This is a very serious debate about an act that will implement a scheme that I believe is very important for Australia and is so very good.

In this debate I have been very pleased to listen to the very thoughtful contributions made by Senator Williams, Senator Back, Senator Heffernan and even, might I say, Senator Leyonhjelm. That does not mean that I agree with everything those speakers said, but I very much appreciated their thoughtful contribution to this very serious debate. I do not make much reference to the Labor Party except to say that there is one element of Senator Ludwig's speech that I do agree with. That is when Senator Ludwig said, talking about the Greens political party, 'The Greens political party oppose everything.' I certainly agree with that bit of Senator Ludwig's speech.

This is a very important measure and one which I wholeheartedly support. I must indicate that I originally had some reservations when, unfortunately, sugar could not be included in the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Sugar is the industry that thrives in the town where I live and in North Queensland and northern New South Wales generally. When Mr Robb rang to give me that bad news, I indicated to him that if his assurance that it would be included in the TPP was not met I would be voting against the TPP. I intended to support the China agreement because of all the good things that it does for every other part of Australian agriculture and manufacturing although, regrettably, sugar was not included. Sugar has been included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Whilst this is not to the extent that I would have liked to have seen, it is certainly a start and it will give the sugar growers in my area, the sugar industry of Queensland and New South Wales, some toehold into the American market, which has, so far, been very strictly controlled against Australian sugar.

I appreciate the support of the Australian Labor Party. You will recall that, when this first came out, at the behest of the unions the Labor Party were totally opposed to the China free trade agreement in spite of the fact that all the Labor state premiers, former premier and former union leaders said to the Australian Labor Party: 'Look guys, this is good for Australia. Get on board.' But in those early days the Labor Party here was more influenced by the union movement and so they came out in full-scale opposition to it. They have now realised the error of their ways. They have taken notice of some Labor luminaries and have understood just how good this is for Australian jobs, Australian workers, Australian businesses and Australian farmers.

I very much appreciate the Labor Party's about-face. Sometimes I am critical about about-faces but in this case I am not. They have been able to support the agreement with, I concede, some concessions made by the government—as I understand them they are concessions of words only and not much more. The amendment regarding 457 visas simply prescribes the existing requirement under the policy that employers seeking to sponsor skilled workers will have to demonstrate that they have made recent and genuine efforts to recruit local Australian workers. That has always been the case. What the Labor Party insisted upon is that it be codified. If that was the price of getting their support, it was a cheap price. Certainly, it is just stating the process that had always happened. It is important to note that labour market testing is already a mandatory requirement under current government policy, and that is detailed in the existing DIBP guidelines.

The government also agreed to make some minor amendments to guidelines for companies seeking a work agreement. To ensure observance of the guidelines they are going to be referenced in a new guideline. Those things already happen, but the Labor Party wanted them in writing. So they are there. Again, that is a small price to pay to get the agreement passed. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will include in its annual report details about the number of work agreements signed, including the number of 457 visa holders engaged under the agreements, together with the occupations and industries which are engaged. In talking about 457 visas, it is important to understand that they were at their momentous peak at the time of the Labor government. In the six years of Labor government, there were more 457 visas holders working in Australia than there have been since the Abbott and Turnbull governments have been in power. Of course, we all remember that even the then Prime Minister's chief of staff was brought in on a 457 visa because apparently there was no-one good enough in Australia to run the Prime Minister's office. With the way that office was run, one would wonder whether the 457 visa holder who took on that job actually earned his money.