Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I am glad that they agree so heartily, because we know who pulls the strings on that side of the chamber. When the CFMEU says, 'Jump,' they collectively say, 'How high?' When the AWU says, 'Jump,' they collectively shout, 'How high?' When the ASU shout, 'Jump,' they collectively shout, 'How high?' The fact is that every single one of them is nothing other than union puppets in this chamber that pretend that they are concerned about the national interest.

When it comes to the FTA, you can forgive the fact that the government is a little bit concerned, perhaps even little bit confused, about the fact that the Labor Party like to talk out of both sides of their mouth. We hear that most strongly from the Leader of the Opposition. He is so prone to speaking out of both sides of his mouth that it has actually become his approach to life. We can see the Labor Leader of the Opposition speaking out of one side of his mouth to Julia and a different side of his mouth to Kevin Rudd: 'You've got my support. I am on board with both of you.' And we see it now with respect to the FTA.

The simple fact is that the China-Australia FTA provides every single safeguard that has always been in place under every FTA and that continues to be in place today. When the Australian Labor Party stand up and the opposition leader claims that there are not requirements for there to be labour market testing, that is a complete and utter fabrication. When the Australian Labor Party claim that Australian workers will lose their jobs in order for foreign workers to come into the country, that is a complete and total fabrication. When dishonest members like the member for Bendigo claim that, for example, when electricians come along to fix issues in their homes, Aussies cannot trust the quality of the workmanship, that is a complete fabrication as well.

Mr Champion interjecting—

Let me explain something to the very ignorant shadow parliamentary secretary opposite, because clearly the Labor Party do not understand the way the China-Australia FTA works or the way the IFA works or the way the 457 visas work. So let's make it really straightforward. I will spoonfeed it to Labor members opposite. The fact is that under a 457 visa, in order for someone to come into the country as a foreign worker, they have to satisfy labour-market testing rules.

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