Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I made this point a moment ago: this government talks a very big game on trade, but has delivered very, very little. Remember, the Abbott government delivered three free trade agreements in two years; the Turnbull government has been in power for almost two years and they have only delivered one—and that was signed yesterday and was started under a Labor government. That is all they have done. Just like they talk a big game on trade, they also talk a big game when it comes to foreign workers. This is the next question I want to ask the foreign minister. She will remember the Prime Minister said this back in April:

… if a job is able to be done by an Australian it should be done by an Australian … every nation is entitled to take that point of view and we certainly do.

A couple of days later the Prime Minister announced his big plan to get rid of 457 visas and institute a new regime, and in that announcement he said:

It will require in almost all cases, the majority of cases, mandatory labour market testing.

It sounds good, but in the policy document, the fact sheet that was released the same day, there is a tricky little get-out clause, and I draw the minister's attention to page 3 of that fact sheet, which says:

Labour market testing (LMT): LMT will be mandatory, unless an international obligation applies.

That means labour market testing is mandatory unless it has been waived in free trade agreements. And that is exactly what this government has done: it waived it in the China free trade agreement, it waived it in the South Korea free trade agreement, it waived it in the Japan free trade agreement, it has waived it in the changes to the Singapore free trade agreement and it attempted to do it for six countries in the TPP agreement that was signed in New Zealand last year as well.

What does this mean? This means that foreign workers from those countries—China, South Korea, Japan and Singapore—can come to Australia and work for a company without that company first having to check if there is an Aussie who can do that job. This is the sort of stuff that makes Australians angry. Surely, before a company brings in an electrician or a plumber or a carpenter or a mechanic into Australia to do a job, first they should have to go through the basic task of seeing if there is an Aussie who can do the job. But this is not happening, and the government is using trade deals to get rid of this by the back door.

Despite all the tough talk from the Prime Minister back in April when he made this announcement, it looks like this is going to keep happening. I challenged the trade minister about this on Sunrise a few weeks ago, and he refused to rule out doing this. I asked him to rule out waiving labour market testing in future free trade agreements. He would not do it. We asked about this again in estimates two weeks ago, and we were told by the department that the government have not directed them to retain labour market testing in future deals. So we can assume this is going to keep happening, and the government have made the point today that they are negotiating bilateral and regional trade deals with a number of countries. I have heard India mentioned, as well as Indonesia, Peru, UK, Hong Kong, Brunei, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Philippines—they are all part of RCEP—and you have 27 countries in Europe. Now, Foreign Minister, if you waive labour market testing in these agreements, it will mean 75 per cent of the people who come to Australia to work will come here without the company they work for first having to check if there is an Australian who can do the job—75 per cent. If you do that, it will make a lie of what the Prime Minister said in April. Remember what he promised? He said:

It will require in almost all cases, the majority of cases, mandatory labour market testing.

If you waive labour market testing in these agreements, this will not happen and what the Prime Minister said will not be true. So, if this government is good to its word, it will now rule out waiving labour market testing in future deals. That is my question to the foreign minister: will you rule out removing labour market testing in future deals, or are you going to make your Prime Minister a liar?

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