June 16, 2015
Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd has slammed opponents of the Australia-China free trade agreement, calling recent union criticism of the deal “irresponsible” and “xenophobic”.
Mr O’Dowd said the CFMEU had distributed a flyer in the Flynn electorate which claimed that Chinese companies would “bring their own workforces to Australia” without first offering jobs to Australian residents.
“This is an irresponsible scare campaign, and the claims are both false and xenophobic,” Mr O’Dowd said.
Mr O’Dowd said the free trade agreement with China would allow for the temporary use of skilled labour in the event that local skills shortages would hinder a project’s development, but he stressed this was not equivalent to investors “bringing their own workforce”.
He said the Infrastructure Facilitation Arrangement, which was negotiated in parallel to the FTA, required Chinese companies to be registered in Australia and comply with all Australian laws.
“This scheme offers large infrastructure investors insurance in the event that there is a labour shortage,” Mr O’Dowd said.
“If labour shortages do occur, investors are able to negotiate bringing in temporary overseas skilled labour but they are subject to the usual conditions of labour market analysis, English proficiency, and wage levels set by the existing 457 scheme.”
Mr O’Dowd has expressed disappointment at the campaign being waged against the FTA but said he believed residents in his electorate would “see through the scare tactics”.
“This is a completely dishonest campaign being brought against an agreement that will benefit small businesses and boost the local economy,” he said.
“But it is also transparent and I have no doubt that people will be able to see through it for the rubbish that it is perpetuating.”
