- Negotiations
A bilateral trade agreement between Australia and China was finalised in 2015.
This agreement is controversial in Australia because it increases entry of temporary Chinese workers in a large number of occupations, without testing first if local workers are available. There are also provisions for Chinese companies with projects worth over $150 million to negotiate the number of foreign workers they bring in as well as their pay and conditions. This is the first time an arrangement which could allow most of the workforce to be imported has been included in any Australian trade agreement. It is unclear whether recent changes to the regulations of Australia’s Migration Act will be sufficient to ensure that such workers are not exploited.
Temporary migrant workers in Australia are already at a high risk of exploitation. There have been a number of studies showing exploitation of temporary workers, working long hours in dangerous conditions at less than minimum wages. Without greater protections in place there are concerns that increased numbers of temporary workers negotiated through trade agreements could lead to more cases of exploitation.
One important impact of the agreement is how it will open the doors to more Chinese investment in Australian agriculture. China is looking to secure its food supply by investing in agribusiness abroad, whether by investing directly in farms or buying into supply chains. Australia is an important source of meat and to a lesser extent dairy for China, and so ChAFTA is expected to boost Chinese deals in Australia’s livestock industry.
The ChAFTA is also controversial because it contains Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions, which allow foreign investors to bypass national courts and sue governments before an arbitration tribunal for compensation if they can argue that changes to law or policy harm their investment. This gives increased power to corporations at the expense of democracy and the public interest.
Contributed by AFTINET
last update: March 2016
Photo: PughPugh/CC BY 2.0
30-Oct-2009
China has signalled it wants fast progress on stalled free trade agreement talks with Australia and to use the "unique" relationship between the countries as a model for Beijing’s relations with other countries.
22-Sep-2009
Signs of community concern over Chinese influence on Australian living standards are shaping up as a key domestic issue for the Rudd government as it struggles to mend its already strained relations with China.
16-Sep-2009
The Rudd Government is being warned the nation will lose more jobs than it will gain if Australia signs a free trade agreement with China.
21-Aug-2009
China Daily
Free trade talks between China and Australia will go ahead in Beijing next month despite rocky relations between the two countries, Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Crean was reported as saying on Friday.
22-Jul-2009
Dow Jones
Australia’s trade minister said Monday he doesn’t expect the ongoing detention of an Australian employee of Rio Tinto PLC to have lasting implications for economic relations between Australia and China.
11-May-2009
Canberra has executed a major shift on strategy with Beijing after Australia’s senior negotiator quit stalled free trade agreement talks with China.
7-May-2009
Dow Jones Newswires
Crean has expressed frustration at the slow pace of the FTA negotiations, saying in March talks were "bogged down" just at a time when Australia wanted to develop a framework for a new economic partnership with China, which would include a framework for investment in an FTA.
23-Apr-2009
SL Farmonline
The Australian dairy industry has backed the stance by Trade Minister Simon Crean in refusing to accept China’s exclusion of agricultural products from a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
15-Apr-2009
AFN
Australia is seeking undertakings from China to work collaboratively on supporting global food supplies and to accelerate negotiations to forge a free trade agreement that delivers benefits for Australia’s farming, fishing and forestry industries.
31-Mar-2009
Access to direct investments in China has become a bigger priority for Australia as it negotiates a Free Trade Agreement, Trade Minister Simon Crean told reporters on Tuesday.