April 24, 2014
The Australian peanut industry, already reeling from floods and drought, could face a bigger problem soon … a Free Trade Agreement with China.
That’s the fear of Sonie Crumpton, general manager of Crawford-based sheller and processer G. Crumpton & Sons.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently clinched a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan and South Korea.
He has previously stated he would like to conclude an FTA with China by the end of this year, something China is also reportedly pushing to achieve.
Mr Crumpton told southburnett.com.au that like most people he had been hearing about the trade agreements on the news without paying too much attention.
However, after a friend in the horticultural industry pointed out to him the possible consequences of an FTA with China, he was horrified.
“It will have a devastating effect on our local peanut industry which is already struggling with a series of seasons ravaged by drought and floods,” he said.
“Up until then, I honestly didn’t think it would affect me. And if you spoke to our farmers, they wouldn’t have a clue.”
Mr Crumpton said China was one of the world’s largest suppliers of peanuts and was already supplying into the Australian market at prices cheaper than Australian farmers can produce.
They will gain an even greater advantage under an FTA.
“Currently if you import Chinese peanuts there are landing, clearing and duty charges to be paid,” Mr Crumpton said.
“I believe that duty is 5 per cent.
“If an FTA is signed that duty will be removed. Currently, blanched Chinese peanuts cost about $2/kg or $2000/tonne. If the duty is removed, they become even cheaper, $1900/tonne.
“I can’t compete with Chinese prices now, and it’s going to be even cheaper again …”
Mr Crumpton queried whether the Federal Government had even thought about the consequences.
“I have not had any correspondence from any government department yet I am one of the major players in the Australian peanut industry,” he said.
Mr Crumpton said Australian farmers struggled to be competitive because the cost of production here was so much more expensive: fuel, electricity, wages and other overheads.
“It’s not really a free trade agreement is it, when Chinese workers don’t have the same working conditions?” he said.
He also questioned how a Free Trade Agreement could benefit Australia.
“We have no manufacturing left,” he said. “Everything we sell to China is resource-based; coal and iron ore.”
Mr Crumpton said he felt it was necessary to speak out because “it will just happen” unless someone says something.
However, he fears “it will just happen” anyway.
“Everyone has seen this proposal on TV and it is being presented as beneficial to Australian agriculture, however we in the peanut industry know how hard it is to compete with the imports now, let alone give them another helping hand by removing current tariffs,” he said.
“The proposed FTA is being negotiated without consultation with industry representatives and will have an enormously detrimental effect on the South Burnett.”
The Greens were successful in moving a motion through the Senate which ordered the production and public release of the secret TPPA trade deal.
This was a win for every Australian who demanded to know how their farm, small business, cost of medicines, labour rights, internet freedoms, and local environment could be effected by this Nation’s biggest ever trade negotiation – a negotiation happening in secret under intense pressure from the United States Government, US corporations, and their interests.
But the Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann, has now written to the Senate on behalf of the Government and refused to release the text of the TPPA trade deal.
What this letter says is that the Abbott Government will not abide by the will of the Senate to allow all Australians the right to know how the TPPA trade deal will affect their lives and businesses because the United States has not said it is OK to do so.
The Abbott Government has shown contempt for the Senate and the Australian people.
Our legitimate role in opposition is to scrutinise any trade deal to ensure it’s more than just ‘free’ but is also ‘fair’ for our nation.
There is no such thing as ‘free trade’ in the real world – to get something we have to give something up and there will be winners and there will be losers.
The question is who gets to pick the winners and who becomes the losers in Australia?
Do the Australian people have a say or will US corporations pick who wins and who loses?
If we want honesty in politics in Australia we need transparency in Parliament.
The Greens will continue to use all measures available in the Senate to pursue the collation on this issue
Tony Abbott’s China trade deal allows the importation of overseas workers, it could be a body-blow to our employment rate.
Tony Abbott is considering allowing overseas investors freer access to Chinese-backed projects in Australia as part of the forthcoming Chinese free trade deal.
What’s the point of these trade deals if the investments that they generate don’t create jobs in Australia?
If it’s true that Tony Abbott is moving to abuse the 457 visa system, import overseas labor and cut local workers out of the picture, it would be devastating.
When the investment is completed and 457 visa holders fly out, so do their skills and Australia is poorer for it.
The Chinese trade deal could also hurt our national revenue.