Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I welcome the tabling of this report and I join the member for Cowan in welcoming the excellencies from the Ibero-American bloc, who are so much a part of this proposed treaty. Negotiations on the original Trans-Pacific Partnership, as we know, began under Labor in 2010. As we're all aware, the United States withdrew from the agreement, which was signed in March this year. This is a new agreement and against the tide of opposition to free trade around the world. That's why it's so important.

There are modest economic benefits for Australia in this agreement, and it will remove 98 per cent of tariffs in the region. According to independent economic modelling, of which the member for Cowan spoke so fondly and which was commissioned by the Victorian government, Australia gains market access and eliminates tariffs on Australian goods, including nickel, iron ore, copper, steel, auto parts and machinery. Open markets lift people out of poverty and create higher-paid, more secure jobs. There is also a strategic benefit to Australia in being involved in this regional agreement after the US withdrawal. It just shows that all of the countries who participate in this do understand that democratic cooperation, including in economic areas, is very important. Multilateral agreements like the CPTPP or, as it's better known, the TPP-11 establish the rules of the road for trade within our region. Deeper engagement in our region is key to securing Australia's economic future. Tying the economies of the region together also makes us more secure in this country.

The opposition has long recognised that it is in Australia's national interest to engage more and play a bigger role in our region. That is why Labor has announced a suite of policies under the Future Asia banner in recognition that it is in Australia's economic and strategic interests to deepen engagement in the region. There are issues with the agreement that Labor members raised in our additional comments presented with this report, a particular focus on the investor-state dispute settlement arrangements and the waiver of labour-market testing, which I will come to in a minute. I also want to draw attention to the prospective benefits of this agreement for Australia's universities. As Gabriele Suder, a professorial fellow at Melbourne Business School, argued recently:

Free-trade agreements linking Australia to south-east Asia, Latin America and the European Union will help break our reliance on international students from China—

and lead to prospective benefits of the treaty:

… greater access to overseas students and smoother facilitation of international research projects.

On their own, the agreements won't necessarily lead to a shift in the number of international students studying in Australia, but they could dramatically change where they come from – alleviating … over-representation of Chinese students in local classrooms.

Let me say something quickly about the investor-state dispute settlements. The opposition is reluctant, if it becomes government, to sign an agreement that includes ISDS provisions. We have already committed to negotiating to remove these clauses from existing agreements in government. This was a commitment made in the 2016 election and recommitted by the current shadow minister for trade in October 2017. If we look to New Zealand, we see that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was able to remove this clause by signing side letters with four countries with whom the previous conservative government had negotiated ISDS clauses.

On labour market testing, the opposition agrees that the waiver of labour market testing in trade agreements does not make sense. We agree that, before any employer brings in a worker from overseas, the employer should be required to first check and see if an Australian can do the job. As with ISDS, Labor in government also does not want an agreement that waives labour market testing for contractual service suppliers. In addition, a Shorten Labor government—which seems more likely by the day—will strengthen existing labour-market-testing provisions. We've already been successful in forcing the government to adopt several of these measures.

The opposition is also committed to improving the way that trade agreements are negotiated, by commissioning independent economic modelling for each new free trade agreement before it's signed and after an agreement has been in operation for 10 years. Labor supports quality trade agreements that benefit Australia.

Although we're a large economy, we are—many Australians are too modest and forget this—the 12th largest economy in the G20. With a population of only 25 million, we are an economy larger than Russia, with 140 million. It's very important that we be involved in free trade because we are relatively small, and trade with the rest of the world helps benefit the people of this country and raises their standard of living.

I commend Japanese Prime Minister Abe on his initiative in reviving this treaty after it seemed sunk by the current President of the United States and the current US administration. I commend this report to the House.

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