The trade minister, Andrew Robb, has argued it would be difficult to introduce legislation to force all businesses to look for Australian workers before hiring skilled foreign workers because the existing rules exempt the vast majority of people granted section 457 visas.

The Abbott government and the opposition have traded blows over the passage of the China-Australia free trade agreement amid concerns from federal Labor that more “safeguards” are needed to ensure employers engage in “labour market testing” and protect local jobs.

Robb said the government, as a matter of policy, would require employers to test the market before hiring international workers under a proposed scheme for Chinese company-backed projects worth more than $150m.

But he played down the prospect of legislating to put the requirement beyond doubt – an idea being pushed by Labor figures including the former trade minister Craig Emerson. In dismissing the idea, Robb pointed to wide exclusions already allowed under laws introduced by the Labor government in 2013 in the name of protecting Australian jobs under the 457 visa program.



“Labor brought in all of these labour market testing arrangements,” Robb told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“The problem with the legislation approach is that these 457s are very complicated. In fact, about 84% of all of the 457s coming in are excluded from market testing. Now, that was under Labor and we haven’t changed one iota of the rules and the legislation that was under Labor, and not one iota in terms of this free trade agreement.”

Labor changed the Migration Act to require sponsoring employers to prove they had made attempts to recruit suitable Australians citizens or permanent residents, although the legislation allowed space for wide exemptions based on skill levels or, more narrowly, in the case of natural disasters.

The Coalition’s assistant immigration minister, Michaelia Cash, signed off on exemptions in November 2013 for all occupations classified as skill level one (managers) and skill level two (professionals).

Government statistics show 38,130 visas were granted under the 457 program in the nine months to March 2015, of which 27,450 (72%) were in the exempted skill levels one and two. About 8,930 (23%) were in skill group three, described as technicians and trades workers.

Robb said the provisions for skilled foreign workers were “designed by Labor to be governed by regulation under overarching legislation”.

“Labor’s arrangements, which they seem to feel worked satisfactorily, have worked satisfactorily under us, and to make that sort of change will be seen by China as directed at them,” Robb said. “They’re our biggest trading partner and Bill Shorten [the Labor leader] seems to be in favour of free trade, but not with China.”

Shorten said on Sunday the government needed to “do more to secure preference for Australians to get jobs in Australia” in light of the rising unemployment rate. The Labor leader described himself as “the guardian of Australian jobs”.

In a sign the opposition could support the deal with minor legislative concessions, Shorten said “a couple of simple changes” could be made without Canberra reopening negotiations with Beijing.

“This isn’t a deal killer,” Shorten said. “It doesn’t involve changing the treaty, but if the government say there’s no secret deal that has been done then I think they should come to the negotiating table. Labor believes in Australian jobs.”



Emerson has argued that if the government insists labour market testing would be required, it should have no problem putting a bill into the parliament to enshrine that in legislation.

But Robb said Emerson no longer spoke for the Labor party and his proposal would “turn into, you know, the biggest bugger’s muddle you’ve seen and we’ll be expected to change a whole raft of things totally unrelated to the free trade agreement”.

The enabling legislation for the free trade agreement is expected to be put to parliament in October.

Australia’s political leaders have used strong language in their dispute about the fate of the deal, which depends on legislation passing the Senate.

Tony Abbott has accused Shorten of being prepared to “sabotage” the nation’s future by backing the union movement’s “racist” campaign against the free trade agreement. The prime minister has also declared that “there is nothing to negotiate”.

But Labor has urged the Coalition to adopt John Howard’s pragmatic approach when the then prime minister in 2004 agreed to Labor amendments to the enabling legislation on the free trade agreement with the United States.

Robb told Guardian Australia last month that he was open to “constructive” talks with Labor’s trade spokeswoman, Penny Wong, about the free trade agreement.

On Sunday the minister’s spokesman said Robb and Wong spoke frequently, but he would not go into the details of those talks.