Winners And Losers İn China Australia Free Trade Deal

Not all Aussies are happy with the China and Australia free trade agreement (FTA) - there is deep skepticism within union ranks.



The united voice of Australian unions is urging the Federal Government not to "sell out" and ensure that any deal it does with China protects Australian jobs.



Unions from the manufacturing, resources, construction, services and transport industries have written to both major parties and the crossbench calling for strong provisions to protect the rights of workers.



The free trade agreement will enable Chinese companies to bring in workers on 457 visas to install and maintain equipment on projects for up to three months, but Australian Council of Trade Union president Ged Kearney has criticized the agreement, saying the local manufacturing industry would be devastated.



"At a time when unemployment is at a 12-year-high of 6.2 percent, [Prime Minister] Tony Abbott has just negotiated a deal that allows Chinese workers to be brought in on individual contracts for infrastructure projects of $150m or more," she said.



"We're not talking about massive projects. A $150m project is an office building that could be built by skilled Australian workers."



Independent Federal Member of Parliament, Bob Katter told the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) that he hopes Australians have "enough fight" left in them to realize what is going on. "Your country is being sold out from under you and your jobs are being taken off you and given to people overseas," he declared.



Katter said a free trade agreement with China would blow away the last venture of manufacturing and decimate agriculture in this country.



"At the present rate the Chinese are gobbling 6 to 7 percent ownership of Australian agriculture each year, according to the figures I have seen," Katter told the state of Queensland's North West Star.



"This is really a joke; the Chinese are practically taking the tariffs off themselves. After nine years, when the dairy tariffs are phased out, the vast bulk of the food exports into China will be produced on Australian land owned by Chinese, produced by the Chinese and manned by section 457 Chinese workers," he claimed. 



The Federal Government has attempted to reassure Australian workers by saying that the free trade deal with China won't undercut their jobs or their pay.



Employment Minister Eric Abetz told the ABC that every Chinese worker will have to be paid according to Australian standards.



"The job opportunities will be bountiful and the rules that apply today will continue to apply under this China-Australia free trade agreement, so it's exceptionally good news for Australian workers," Abetz said.



Katter is not buying the government's assurances. Referring to it as a "betrayal" he said: "The doors for employment now are flung wide open."



Trade Minister Andrew Robb has labeled suggestions of potential minimal supervision of the visa system as "scaremongering." - Victoria