China-Australia Free Trade Agreement puts local jobs at risk, unions, industry groups say

Updated

Unions and industry groups say the free trade deal between Australia and China will put jobs at risk.

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Tony Abbott described the deal as "history making" saying it would "change our region for the better".

The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) gives Australian companies greater access to the Chinese market but it also allows more Chinese workers including tradespeople to work in Australia on temporary skilled migration visas.

The fine print of the agreement says entry and temporary stay for up to four years with the possibility of staying longer will be granted to "contractual service suppliers" from China.

The agreement defines such suppliers as a Chinese person "who has trade, technical or professional skills and experience and who is assessed as having the necessary qualifications, skills and work experience accepted as meeting Australia's standards".

The person would be an employee of a local company or a Chinese firm that has a service contract in Australia.

Free trade agreements must support local jobs and industry and all indications are that the deal with China does not. Ged Kearney, Australian Council of Trade Unions

Under the agreement, up to 1,800 people per year, working as either Chinese chefs, Wushu martial arts coaches, Mandarin language tutors or Chinese medicine practitioners, would be allowed to enter Australia as contractual service suppliers.

The agreement also allows Chinese machinery installers and equipment servicers to work in Australia for up to three months.

Additionally, Chinese companies involved in infrastructure projects worth $150 million or more will be able to bring in Chinese workers under an Investment Facilitation Arrangement.

The project will need to be approved by the Australian Government and will have to be in food and agribusiness, resources and energy, transport, telecommunications, power supply and generation, environment or tourism.

The Chinese workers will also need to meet English language standards, have appropriate qualifications and experience and be sponsored by the Australian Immigration Department.

Chinese companies will not need to advertise project jobs locally before recruiting workers from overseas similar to Enterprise Migration Agreements.

Those agreements were introduced under Labor on projects worth $2 billion or more.

Free trade agreement does not support local jobs: Unions

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the free trade agreement undermined local jobs and could increase unemployment.

Unemployment is currently running at 6 per cent nationally.

In a statement, ACTU president Ged Kearney said strong rules were needed in the FTA to ensure local jobs were protected.

"The Abbott Government needs to come clean on the impact the China Free Trade Agreement will have on unemployment and local jobs," the statement read.

"Free trade agreements must support local jobs and industry and all indications are that the deal with China does not."

Lance McCallum, national policy officer from the Electrical Trades Union, told PM the FTA would be bad for both Australian and Chinese workers.

"Australian workers will miss out on thousands of job opportunities," he said.

"We've also got concerns for those [Chinese] workers that their conditions could be exploited by unscrupulous employers."

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the deal would help Australian exporters tap into opportunities in China.

But not all business groups are happy.

Innes Willox, chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, told PM some local manufacturers could lose out because of increased competition from Chinese imports.

"It's both a threat and an opportunity," he said.

"Some parts of manufacturing may potentially be hit much harder than others. It depends on which sector of manufacturing you're in."

He said there were also concerns about Chinese goods and services meeting Australian standards.

Topics: trade, international-aid-and-trade, work, unions, foreign-affairs, government-and-politics, business-economics-and-finance, australia, china

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