Town hall blitz on ACTU’s anti-China FTA list

The union campaign against the free-trade agreement with China is moving to town halls in marginal electorates.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver. Picture: Adam Taylor

The union campaign against the free-trade agreement with China is moving to town halls in marginal electorates for forums aimed at convincing voters the deal should change.

In a shift from the rallies that drew thousands of protesters around the country earlier this year, the ACTU has written to Liberal and National MPs who hold marginal seats, inviting them to meetings to debate the deal, starting in Adelaide’s Hindmarsh electorate on October 6.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver yesterday told The Australian the meetings were “an opportunity for MPs to put their case about the impact of the free-trade agreement on local jobs”.

“These will be rolling meetings around the country,” he said.

Mr Oliver said a more nuanced anti-FTA campaign, which chimes with Malcolm Turnbull’s plans to engage the community on thorny issues, had been planned “well before Mr Turnbull decided to knock off (Tony) Abbott”.

“The government is a strong advocate for the FTA — we thought, let’s let the MPs argue for the case for local jobs,” he said.

Yesterday Mr Oliver also welcomed the Prime Minister’s comments to the ABC on Monday that the government did not want to “wage war” with unions.

Unions “want to engage in a constructive way with government about the changing nature of work — not just how to drive down people’s pay packets and attack workplace conditions,” he said.

“It’s time to take the high road. We need to be innovative, offer opportunities and not only lift employment rates but also tackle the issue of underemployment, which pushes many workers towards poverty.”

The ACTU said it planned to run its town hall meetings even where MPs declined the invitation as a chance to get the message across to voters unopposed.

Yesterday, Hindmarsh MP Matt Williams said he would not attend the October 6 meeting as he would be at a parliamentary education and employment public hearing instead.

He told The Australian: “I am always happy for union members to … speak with me about issues that are important to them as I have done in the past”.

The FTA was “one of the real ­shining lights for Australia’s ­future”, he said.

“I regularly hold street-corner meetings in the electorate and, along with door knocking and ­visiting supermarkets and community organisations, try and get to speak to as many people in the community as possible.”