Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

The trade minister says, 'There are no weaknesses.' We believe that the Abbott government could have and should have secured a better deal. It is disappointing that a number of agricultural goods are left out of the deal. They failed to win further market access for rice, wheat, cotton, sugar and canola or vegetable oils. And personally, as a former health minister, I am pretty concerned about the investor-state dispute settlement provisions in this deal. Investor-state dispute settlement provisions have us in court in Hong Kong right now, protecting our right to defend the health of Australians by maintaining our current provisions for plain packaging of cigarettes. The government is spending millions and millions of Australian taxpayer dollars. We did when we were in government to defend our right to legislate for the health of our citizens.

But one of the most important concerns that we have in this area is around the ability for ChAFTA to support rather than replace local employment. We want to ensure that this agreement supports local jobs, maintains workers' skills and safety requirements and prevents the exploitation of workers from overseas.

I know that there is an agreement for this debate to conclude at 1.15, so I will take my seat.

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