Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the Customs Amendment (Growing Australian Export Opportunities Across the Asia-Pacific) Bill 2019 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Growing Australian Export Opportunities Across the Asia-Pacific) Bill 2019, which implement trade agreements with Hong Kong, Indonesia and Peru. Let me say from the outset that the Greens unequivocally oppose these bills as they stand. In ratifying these free trade agreements with Hong Kong, this government—and, it must be said, with the full support of the Labor Party—is selling out Australian workers, selling out support for public health and selling out support for a clean environment. It's undermining our ability to make social and environmental policy, and it's sending a very clear message to people who are fighting for democracy and human rights in places like Hong Kong and West Papua. This is an agreement that says: 'We might mouth the words of concern around the abuses that are taking place in places like Hong Kong and West Papua but, when it comes down to it, we do not care about your basic human rights.

The Greens are very proud that we don't say one thing before an election and another thing afterwards, and that we don't resile from our principles. We have been steadfast in our opposition to free trade agreements that contain investor-state dispute settlement provisions. Let's be very clear about what these are: these are provisions within the agreements that give power to big multinational corporations to sue governments if governments decide to regulate in the public interest. If a government decides to introduce laws to protect public health that might impact on the profits of a multinational corporation, the corporation can sue the government. If a government passes laws that protect labour standards—again, multinational corporations can sue the government. If a government passes laws that protect the environment and that will curb the activities of a corporation because they are having a detrimental impact on the environment—well, guess what? The multinational corporation can sue the government.

We are handing over, in this agreement, inordinate power to multinational corporations and basically saying that we value their rights ahead of the rights of governments to protect people and act in the national interest. These clauses favour profits of multinationals over everyday Australians and our environment. Don't take our word for it; listen to the numerous stakeholders who have participated in this debate. Listen to the voice of the union movement, who say explicitly that the provisions in these free trade agreements will be harmful to working people. That applies specifically to the Indonesia-Australia agreement, which is going to waive labour market testing requirements and allow thousands of additional working holiday-makers each year.

The timing of this deal is appalling. Just take the proposed free trade agreement with Hong Kong. Last month we had the Chinese president, President Xi, saying of the Hong Kong protesters:

Anyone attempting to split China in any part of the country will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones.

And we know that President Xi will make good on those threats. We've seen months of brutal crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. What are the people of Hong Kong calling for? Things that we take for granted here in Australia—universal suffrage and an independent police force that's subject to oversight. We've seen anti-democracy emergency powers to ban face masks. We've seen rivers of tear gas flow. We've seen live bullets from police, and people being killed and injured. Five thousand people have been arrested since June. People as young as 12 have been convicted. In the last week we saw a siege on the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with protesters still trapped on campus as of yesterday and roughly a thousand people arrested.

In spite of this people are taking to the streets, expressing their democratic rights. And what is our response? As far as the Australian government is concerned it's business as usual. Worse still, here we are rushing legislation through this parliament to ratify a free trade agreement with Hong Kong—and, it must be said, with the full support of the Australian Labor Party. What are the pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong saying? They've been listening to our debate here in Australia, and they've been asking us to do something very, very straightforward. They're asking us not to proceed with the free trade agreement at this time, while they are being violently attacked. Hong Kong pro-democracy leader Bonnie Leung has further urged Australian MPs not to ratify the deal unless specific human rights guarantees are inserted into that agreement. Surely that's something that Australia should listen to.

Here in Australia, the ACTU have said of this free trade agreement:

We feel it's important that we show solidarity with the protesters, and our support for human rights, civil society and the rule of law in Hong Kong, before we decide on how to proceed with a free trade agreement.

We simply do not buy the argument that was advanced by the coalition and the ALP during the JSCOT inquiry that this agreement will strengthen Hong Kong's status under 'one country, two systems'. This is the perfect opportunity for the Australian government to send a message to the Chinese government and the Hong Kong authorities. Let's back up words of concern with real action to demonstrate that we will not tolerate pro-democracy activists having fundamental rights being crushed.

We're going to move an amendment to do something very straightforward, and that is to delay the implementation of the agreement with Hong Kong by one year. We don't think we should be ratifying this agreement at all—not while it contains ISDS provisions and a range of other problematic issues—but if this government is determined to press on then we urge the government and, indeed, the ALP to vote against these bills or to at least support the delay by at least a year. Support this amendment, which comes at the request of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong—people who have been putting their lives on the line.

Of course, it's not just appalling timing when it comes to what's going on in Hong Kong. Let me move on to the Indonesia-Australia free trade agreement. Again, we have grave concerns about investor-state dispute clauses and labour market access, as I mentioned earlier. These alone are reason enough not to support this legislation, but there's also the issue of the appalling human rights abuses currently going on in West Papua. We've seen shocking bloodshed in West Papua in recent months. Scores of people have been killed—probably more than we know, because journalists are prevented from covering what's going on there and human rights observers have been forbidden access to the region. We know that, in just one example, Indonesian security forces opened fire on an anti-racism rally of high school students in Wamena just a few months ago. What were they protesting about? The students there were responding to being called 'monkeys' by the Indonesian authorities. Rather than entering into a free trade agreement with Indonesia, we should be condemning the actions of the Indonesian government and its security forces; we should stop training Indonesian authorities, empowering them to commit these terrible abuses; and, of course, we should not be ratifying a shoddy free trade agreement that's opposed by the people in that region and by the unions, and where our neighbours are being subject to a ruthless and violent occupation.

We know that the Liberals have little respect for human rights and they will do everything they can to hand over power to big multinational corporations because, for them, ensuring that multinationals have the power to sue governments and to prevent the improvement of public health and labour standards and the protection of the environment is absolutely bread-and-butter politics. But I want to say to the Labor Party: oppose these bills. Why on earth would you be giving more rights to big corporations than are given to ordinary working people? Why on earth would you support a free trade agreement that allows a multinational corporation to trample over labour standards, the protection of public health and the regulation of a healthy environment? Show a bit of courage, recognise that people want you to behave like an opposition, stand up to this rotten government and ensure that that legislation that passes this parliament is legislation that protects people rather than handing over power to multinational corporations.