Rex Patrick (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, you are talking about the consequences of this treaty entering into force, and that's a very appropriate thing to do in this debate. But we shouldn't just talk about the positives; we also need to talk about the negatives—and I think that's what we have been doing and trying to do. Minister, you indicated to Senator Whish-Wilson that the treaty has been ratified when in actual fact it hasn't.

Senator Reynolds interjecting—

No, I understand. It has been signed but it hasn't been ratified—and I note that, in your answer, you conceded that. I just wanted to make that relatively clear. We support free trade. We're just trying to deal with the unintended consequences—or maybe the intended negative consequences—and just trying to understand the magnitude of that consequence in order to make an informed decision about whether we allow legislation that would bring this agreement into force. I was asking questions about labour market testing. We know that, under this agreement, there are up to 450 categories of workers who may come in from overseas to fulfil a particular role for a multinational corporation. In the analysis and deliberations that took place, was there any measurement, modelling or calculation done as to how many workers per annum—assuming the treaty was being used effectively and benefits were flying on both sides—the government expects to come into the country as a result of this agreement?