Australia must sign the Free Trade Agreement with China as soon as possible, “before it’s too late”, LNP Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd said this week.
Mr O’Dowd said he was anxious that China could walk away from the deal if Australia did not act soon.
“The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is a once-in-a-lifetime arrangement,” Mr O’Dowd said.
“The Chinese have made it clear they will walk away if we don’t sign soon, so we need to act before it’s too late.”
Mr O’Dowd has previously defended the agreement, saying it will not hurt Australian jobs and accusing union opposition to it as “xenophobic”.
The Labor Party has presented amendments they want considered before the agreement is signed.
“The principal criteria by which we will judge the measures that are being put forward are, firstly, that we will not entertain anything that discriminates against the Chinese,” Mr O’Dowd said.
“The second principle we will apply in assessing the material that is being put forward today is that we will reject it if it contravenes the firm commitments we have made in this free trade agreement.”
He said Labor’s recommended safeguards, such as mandatory labour market testing for occupations sought under an Investment Facilitation Arrangement, were already government policy.
“Labor needs to consider its position for the national interest, not through the narrow self-interest of the militant unions such as the CFMEU and the ETU,” Mr O’Dowd said.
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