China-Australia FTA to pass parliament

The future of the China-Australia friendship shines bright today with news that our two major Aussie political parties are now ready to pass the important China-Australia Free Trade Agreement.

The FTA was signed back in June this year but the deal needed the support of the opposition Labor party to pass parliament. China is Australia's largest trading partner and all Australians understand how important this great deal will be to the future of Australia and to our friendship with China but there have been some concerns with the agreement over guest workers and Australian job protection.

Due to these concerns over Australian job protection there was a small risk that the Labor Party would not agree to pass the FTA in parliament but both parties have come out today saying that they have guest worker regulations to better safeguard Aussie jobs and this means that the deal that Australia and China shook on can pass parliament unchanged.

It is great that our two major parties Labor and Liberal have managed to cooperate to make sure this FTA is passed because this is such a great deal for Australia that gives our business great access to the massive and growing Chinese markets. The deal is great for Aussie farmers and even though there have been concerns over guest workers and Aussie job protection - this deal will be great for Aussie workers with the coming Chinese investment sure to create job directly but also through the multiplier effect that the increased production and development will generate. The Australian economy has always relied on capital inflows and the Chinese investment that ChAFTA will bring is vital to Australian prosperity into the future.

To an outsider it may have seemed as though our unions campaign against the ChAFTA was racist and ant-China and in some ways it ways but the fact is that the concerns that Aussies have over the use of guest workers in our nation is not at all specific to China and anxiety over the issue of guest workers has been growing within the Aussie public for a number of years. It was a shame that this guest worker anxiety has come to a head with the ChAFTA deal because the 457 visa guest worker debate that we have been having in Australia over the last few years is in no way specific to the China-Australia FTA and that is why new regulations have been able to be agreed on that allows for the deal that China and Australia shook on to be passed unchanged. These complimentary guest worker regulations do not just apply to guest workers from China but to all of the many guest workers from around the world that work in Australia on a 457 visa.

Australia has a small population and we often have labor and skill shortages and because of this we do need to use guest workers. So of course ChATFA allows for the use of guest workers when needed and nobody should have been surprised by that. The last thing Australia wants is to miss out on Chinese investment due to labor or skill shortages. The main concerns that Aussies have about 457 visas is that labor market testing is done before guest workers are brought in and that when guest workers do need to be brought in that they are not exploited while they are working here. The new regulations that Labor and Liberal have just agreed to address these concerns well and will be welcomed by the Australian public. Its great to see both parties cooperating and working together and its great that now we can get on with greater cooperation and win-win trade with our friend China.



-Aussie Minister for Trade Andrew Robb

You would need to search far and wide to find an Aussie that is more pro-China than I am and I have been worried about this domestic ChAFTA debate doing damage to the China-Australia relationship. China have offered us a great deal and it would be understandable that some in China may have been offended or insulted that we didnt jump right on it but like I said - this guest worker debate has been building here for a number of years and its just a shame that the unions chose to use ChAFTA as a kind of rallying point against 457 visas because they are in no way specific to China or the ChAFTA deal. I am really happy that we can put the guest worker debate behind us now and get in with it.

So the ChAFTA agreement is going to be great for the China-Australia relationship but also great for our Asia Pacific region. New Zealand has had an FTA in place with China for quite some time now and the deal has been great for their economy and for their friendship with China. Now with the ChAFTA deal sure to pass Australian parliament China will have FTAs with two important western nations here in the Asia Pacific and this will help ensure regional peace and stability. The Aussie and New Zealand trade relationships with China make me wonder why USA is so worried about annoying China by sending war ships through our Asia Pacific trading lanes and bothering China on South China Sea. USA claims that they need military here in the Asia Pacific to ensure a "peaceful rise of China' but these Australia and New Zealand FTAs prove that the western nations of the Asia Pacific need and welcome the rise of China and we believe that trade and friendship will do more to promote regional peace and stability than intimidation from the US military. With the UK being the new best friend of China I have to wonder what USA is so worried about. No other western nations seems to fear the rise of China. We want and need the rise of China.

The Australian Government produced a white paper a few years ago titled Australia in the Asian Century and we are fully aware of how important win-win trade with China is for us going forward. To know that ChAFTA is going to pass parliament unchanged is great news for all Australians. China should not be offended by the fact that we did need to listen to union concerns and address them and now that they have been we can look forward to a win-win future between our two nations under this important FTA.

Now that ChAFTA is all good the next big debate in Australian politics will be over the US led TPP FTA that Australia has just signed up to. There are many concerns that unions, business and leftist uni student types have over the US led Trans Pacific Partnership deal and there is some risk that it may not pass parliament due to concerns over things like companies being able to sue our government over things like raising our minimum wage. Australians are not going to like hearing that. To many Aussies the TPP represents total loss of sovereignty to US corporations. Our Minister for Trade Andrew Robb has done a great job to satisfy everyone on ChAFTA but it seems to me that the Aussie public has more concerns over the TPP than they ever did over ChAFTA so it will be interesting to see how the TPP debate turns out. But today we should celebrate the fact that ChAFTA will pass parliament unchanged. This outcome is win-win-win-win. This agreement is a win for the people of Australia, a win for the people of China, a win for the opposition and their unions - and a win for Andrew Robb and our Liberal Government. Good on everyone.

This is Australia!