Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

You don't want the Canadians to get an advantage? You'd prefer the New Zealanders? You think this is a responsible course of action to take. You would provide the New Zealand cheesemakers with an advantage over Australian cheesemakers in this transitionary period. Do you want to put the Canadian and New Zealand beef farmers ahead of Australian beef farmers or workers, the people in those industries who are seeking to get access to the Japanese markets? Abattoirs are seeking to get access to the Japanese markets under these arrangements.

What the Labor Party says is pretty simple. This is a very flawed agreement. We acknowledge that. We are in the business of getting that fixed, but we won't do it at the expense of farmers, winemakers, cheesemakers, blue-collar workers, manufacturers or our universities. We want to see those people enter international markets on the same basis as their competitors in New Zealand and Canada. I would have thought that would be a pretty straightforward proposition.

So, when it comes to the question of why the Labor Party won't accept these irresponsible stunts that you're putting forward, I think it's very clear. There is no way the Labor Party is going to join with you in these stunts to undermine the living conditions of Australian workers in the manner which we've become all too accustomed to from the Greens. You think this will go unnoticed? You're making a bit of a mistake.