RATIFYING the potentially lucrative China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) on schedule this year is the Australian dairy industry’s number one political priority.
The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) leaders will march the corridors of Parliament House in Canberra this week to deliver a stern warning that failure to ratify the ChAFTA will cost their industry $60 million through losing two early tariff cuts.
About 25 federal MPs and Senators will attend the ADIC’s annual dinner this week to hear a similar message while the industry’s wares will also be showcased via Holstein and Jersey dairy cows grazing on the front lawns of Parliament House.
ADIC chair Noel Campbell told Fairfax Media this week’s events would be used as an opportunity to push key issues like the ChAFTA ratification which he says has “stalled” due to Labor’s opposition over concerns about the adequacy of labour provisions, spurred by the unions.
But Mr Campbell said if the ChAFTA was ratified this year by federal parliament, half the tariff on dairy export products likes infant formula would be removed by January 1.
He said it the deal wasn’t ratified this calendar year, the losses to the dairy industry would be $60 million due to the loss of the two initial tariff cuts.
“Our customers in China are bewildered by the whole thing,” he said.
“Their expectation was that once the deal was initially signed in the middle of this year it was all done and dusted.
“Clearly there’s a misunderstanding of the process but they’re a bit bewildered by the whole thing.”
Labor proposes ChAFTA 'safeguards'
On Tuesday, the ALP proposed “safeguards” to address concerns about labour market testing and other aspects of the ChAFTA, which the government said it would now consider in good faith.
“The new safeguards will allow Australian exporters and consumers to secure the benefits of ChAFTA while ensuring the trade deal does not jeopardise employment opportunities for Australian workers,” Opposition leader Bill Shorten said.
Labor said its proposed amendments would introduce new safeguards into the 457 visa system.
That included requiring employers entering Investment Facilitation Arrangement (IFA) work agreements under ChAFTA to advertise jobs locally before turning to overseas workers and increasing the minimum base rate of pay for 457 visa workers to $57,000 a year.
It would also require 457 visa workers in trades like electrical work or plumbing to obtain the relevant occupational licence or registration within 60 days of arriving in Australia.
“Labor’s safeguards are complementary to ChAFTA: they will not breach the agreement, they will not require it to be renegotiated and they will not discriminate against Chinese workers or companies – in fact they will improve protections for Chinese and other 457 visa workers in Australia,” Mr Shorten said.
Labor Shadow Trade Minister Senator Penny Wong said “We're not trying to change the agreement; we're trying to introduce reasonable complimentary safeguards”.
“These are exposure draft amendments,” she said.
“We'll go through that process of negotiation and consultation and if we're not in a position to finalise those prior to the House discussion then obviously we'll move them in the Senate.”
Debate expected next week
The ChAFTA enabling legislation was introduced into the House of Representatives last month and is expected to be debated next week.
In proposing the protections, Mr Shorten said Labor was “just standing up for Australian jobs”.
“There have been independent experts who have said, 'Hey, you should look at the detail of the fine print in terms of some of these matters', and we have,” he said.
“I can't see a very good reason why anyone who cares about Australian jobs would simply write off Labor's proposal so let's not focus on failure - let's focus on successful negotiations.”
Trade Minister Andrew Robb said the government welcomed Labor’s “belated acceptance that in no way can the agreement with China be reopened”.
“We also note that the Opposition is looking for added comfort through the introduction of provisions that in fact already exist,” he said.
“Safeguards in Labor’s key proposals – which require labour market testing as a mandatory requirement for all occupations sought under an IFA – are indeed already clear government policy.
“Labour market testing is absolutely a non-negotiable requirement for project companies seeking an IFA.
“The Turnbull Government is doing everything that can reasonably be done to ensure that the China FTA can be brought into force before the end of this year so that its benefits can quickly flow to our exporters and to consumers.”
Mr Robb said delaying the FTA’s entry into force would cost Australian farmers alone an estimated $300 million.
Mr Campbell said he understood the protections for Australian workers in the ChAFTA were no different to previous agreements; as advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“From our perspective we think the Labor party has been more successful than they thought they’d ever be with this ChAFTA campaign (generating negative perception of the deal),” he said.
“Therefore they’re backed into a corner to some degree because they have to be seen to be able to achieve something or win something, to be able to move forward.
“We’d hoped with a change of Prime Minister there may have been some more movement but at this point in time that hasn’t happened.”