Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mine is a serious question. It is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Minister for Employment, Senator Abetz. Can the minister inform the Senate how the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will create more job opportunities here in Australia for Australians?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the six years under Labor, with Mr Shorten as employment minister, the unemployment rate in this country increased by around two per cent and was projected to increase even further. Employment growth in 2013, Labor's last year in office, was just 52,000—and, might I add, the number of foreign workers coming into Australia was at an all-time high. It is from that starting point that this government over the last two years has focused on creating more job opportunities for Australians, and as employment minister I am delighted that there are today 335,000 more Australians in work than when we came to office. But there is more to be done, and a key pillar of our job creation strategy is the new free trade agreements with Japan, Korea and China. These agreements will create 9,000 jobs a year and, overall, 178,000 jobs by the time the agreements come into full force.

Every single leader in government in Australia supports this free trade agreement, including the Labor Premier of Victoria, the Labor Premier of Queensland, the Labor Chief Minister of the ACT and the Labor Premier of South Australia. Every office-bearer that is actually in office, whether a premier or chief minister in Australia, irrespective of their political colour, supports this China free trade agreement because they know it is unequivocally good for Australia and for Australian jobs. (Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate of the support for the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement from across the political divide?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is widespread support for this historic agreement from a long list of Labor luminaries, and it would be fair to say that some of the Labor figures I just mentioned in my previous answer might not necessarily fit into that category of luminaries! But allow me to go through a few former ACTU presidents, Bob Hawke for one; he was ACTU president for 11 years; Simon Crean, ACTU President for five years; Martin Ferguson, ACTU President for six years—21 years of ACTU presidencies support the China free trade agreement. Mr Hawke says:

The party must not go backwards on this issue …

Mr Crean says:

… we diminish our opportunities for jobs …

Mr Ferguson says:

It's almost as if the CFMEU … wants to hold the rest of the nation—

(Time expired)

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask a further supplementary question. Can the minister inform the Senate what barriers there might be in this Asian century to the implementation of this job-creating trade agreement?

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The barriers are those people that Senator Back and I look at every day in this chamber—namely, the Australian Labor Party. Mr Shorten is trying to have a bob each way in relation to the China free trade agreement, but the problem is the two bobs are actually on our side: Bob Hawke and Bob Carr! They do not have a 'bob' on their side whatsoever.

The Labor Party and others know—and yes, the Labor Party finally understand—that there is no Labor luminary that actually supports the short-sighted, xenophobic and dishonest campaign being run by the Australian Labor Party for and on behalf of the CFMEU. The CFMEU's motivation is to scare the Australian people to achieve a change of government so that the royal commission and its potential findings— (Time expired)