Government savages Labor MP for questioning China free trade deal over Australian jobseekers

A LABOR backbencher has gone from nobody to major villain in less than 10 minutes after questioning our deal with China.

Lisa Chesters - new Bendigo MP

LABOR backbench MP Lisa Chesters describes herself as a minor figure in Parliament but in just 10 minutes she shot up the list to become a major villain in the eyes of the Government.

And it happened by accident.

She did it by questioning the free trade agreement (FTA) with China and — a deeper offence — challenging the Government’s commitment to boosting the employment of Australians.

“Under this agreement, semi-skilled Chinese workers will have the opportunity to come here and work in this country without there even being labour market testing to see if there is anybody locally who has those skills available and can apply for the job,” Ms Chesters, the Member for Bendigo in Victoria, said.

“Growth and jobs” is the current chant by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and Ms Chesters was not singing along.

The savage response to her comments made to a near-empty subsidiary forum of Parliament has been an indicator of Government concerns about public reaction to both issues — the FTA and job creation.

“This is a disgrace, this is recklessness. You are not in university anymore,” Trade Minister Andrew Robb told Parliament Wednesday, indicating the junior Opposition MP who sits at the back of the backbench.

The Government today would have welcomed comments from former Labor Foreign Minister Bob Carr who was reported in The Australian saying the China FTA did not need to be rewritten to protect Australian workers from introduced labour.

However, Mr Carr also was quoted saying, “The concerns of unions cannot be rejected out of hand.”

Another view was aired on Monday night in the Federation Chamber, an offshoot of the House of Representatives. An MP scheduled to speak wasn’t ready and Ms Chesters, member for Bendigo since 2013, was pushed forward to fill the gap.

She was the 11th and final speaker in the Grievance Debate, in which MPs have 10 minutes to talk about whatever they want. It was a last-minute call up but she had things to say about the China FTA.

Ms Chesters was worried that under the agreement subcontractors would provide cheap, Chinese labour to food processing plants in her electorate. She went further and claimed ordinary householders could be confronted by unqualified Chinese tradespeople.

“The Government has just sent the strongest signal possible that somebody who has been trained and has qualifications in another country can come into this country and work without meeting the same obligations or having the same certificates and qualifications that they do here,” she said.

“It is also alarming for consumers to think that you could call an electrician to come to your house and not know whether they have Australian qualifications and safety standards or those of another country.”

Her remarks were reported to a meeting of Liberal MPs on Tuesday and on Wednesday Mr Robb was ready to attack.

“I was asked who is standing in the way,” he said.

“Just two nights ago we witnessed in the chamber the member for Bendigo declaring that it was alarming for consumers to think they could call an electrician to their home and not know whether that person knew what they were doing.

“This is a disgrace, this is recklessness. You are not in university anymore. This is real politics that has real consequences. Of course the member was following the instruction of the ETU, who robocalled my electorate passing on the same message.”

Minister Robb said there would be no dilution of qualifications. And Prime Minister Tony Abbott, replying to a Labor question, said the FTA with China “goes on to say that there will be labour market testing before people are actually employed”.

As aggressive and confident as the Government appears in Parliament, it clearly is worried its promise ton provide more jobs is suffering from the union funded campaign against the FTA.

It’s not solely a matter of economic promotion. It’s a question of whether voters believe the Government any more.

The Government will persist with the line given by Prime Minister Abbott: “We understand that trade means jobs, and more trade means more jobs.”

Ms Chesters’ contrary view is: “China has been very good at negotiating a very good deal for it and its citizens.”