Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

I suppose that should come as no surprise, because the Labor Party that the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, is head of is not the Labor Party we used to know. Labor's proposal to fix this thorn in their side is a complete stunt and absolute farce. Even if we were to pass it here in the Senate, the coalition will block it in the lower house. It is a slap in the face of their supporters. If the TPP will cause Australians to lose their jobs then don't vote for it. Instead of fighting for the workers of Australia, the Labor Party is rolling over for opposition leader Mr Shorten's billionaire mates. This is despite the fact that he knows that the TPP will have a devastating impact on Australian jobs and workers. The Labor Party knows that the TPP will allow virtually unlimited access for workers from Canada, Mexico, Chile, Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam to flood the Australian job market.

These labour market concessions to foreign workers will be on top of the 5,000 workers from China we agreed to as part of the China free trade deal and the 5,000 workers that will come as a result of the Indonesian free trade deal, which Labor will probably wave through as well. On top of this we have skilled labour and holiday visa-holders who are able to work, as well as foreign students, all placing pressure on the Australian job market.

The Labor Party knows that this agreement will allow employers to overlook local workers. So if you are one of the millions of Australians who works, or would like to work, as a mechanic, a construction worker, a chef, a nurse, an electrician, a carpenter, a bricklayer or a tiler—to name just a few occupations—you should know that the Labor Party is about to sell you out. We know that this problem with the TPP undercutting the jobs market will be even worse in rural and regional areas, where youth unemployment is through the roof. But it seems that the major political parties in this place couldn't care less about these people, because they already have their jobs in this place and they seem to think that keeping their jobs in this place means doing the bidding of their multinational mates. We know that this trade deal will hurt Australian workers and Australian jobs—still Labor waves the white flag. If I were in the Labor Party, I would be absolutely ashamed. I am certain that, behind closed doors, many Labor politicians will be hanging their heads in shame.

This brings me to the coalition's part in this debacle. In their support of the TPP, the very worst aspects of the coalition are brought to light. They don't care about the negative impact this will have on Australian workers or Australian sovereignty. They know that this trade deal will open up the Australian government to legal challenges from foreign multinationals and will make it even harder than it is today to hold them to account. Let me take you back to 1998, when I spoke in the parliament about the multilateral agreement on investment which they were going to sign. That was about multinational companies actually being able to sue us for loss of profits. No-one knew about it. It was never debated on the floor of the parliament—until I spoke to a former member of the Canadian parliament who said we have every right to discuss this. He said it was discussed on the floor of the parliament in America and also in Canada. But no, the coalition kept it as a secret deal—until the other politicians found out what was going on, after I exposed it for what it was. And then it was actually shut down. That is the deal that is in this TPP. That has happened in America. A petroleum company sued for loss of profits. Off the top of my head, it was for in excess of $300 million. Are we are signing up to that? These are taxpayers' dollars.

Let me go to the free trade agreement with America that was signed here in this parliament in 2004, and was supported by the Labor Party as well. It came into effect in 2005. Under that free trade agreement, who got rid of their tariffs from day one? All Australia's tariffs were gone from day one, yet America kept their tariffs on for between 11 and 18 years on wool, horticultural products, steel, wine, beef—you name it. The coalition didn't do the deal for our country; they did the deal for the other countries. America still put quotas on the system; they kept their tariffs on. The Chinese free trade agreement is another one. What have you done? You have signed away our tariffs here, but China still has its tariffs on for four years—and they are going to look at the negotiations again after four years.

I don't see the politicians in this place working for the people of this country; I see them selling us out. And it is quite evident in this agreement. They are going to put ISDS into this agreement. It is nothing short of a multilateral agreement on investment, to allow multilateral companies to come in here and start controlling us and having their say. On 10 September 2018, Anthony Albanese said—