China talks expected by week’s end

The Labor caucus agreed to the China compromise on Tuesday following consultations led by trade spokeswoman Penny Wong.

Talks between the government and Labor on passing the China free trade agreement are expected to start this week.

“It’s not a cave-in, it’s not to appease Bill Shorten or make him look good and it’s not conceding anything was wrong with the agreement”, the source said.

Before Labor’s announcement, worldwide Development Minister Steve Ciobo said the Australian government had never considered a compromise on the core components of the FTA.

The suggested change, which if passed will apply to all future business deals Australia agrees on with global traders, will test the effectiveness of local workers on major projects commissioned on Australian soil by worldwide companies worth 110 million U.

Mr Turnbull also ceded a few ground, telling Labor its proposals for reining in generous superannuation concessions would now be included in the government’s comprehensive review of the tax and transfer system.

To change this would to change the text of the agreement itself, something which Labor has said it would not do because China has threatened to walk away should it be touched.

“Obviously, had we been in government, we would have a different agreement but this is the agreement the Parliament’s been presented with so what we are doing there instead is seeking to lift the wages … because that is one important step of dealing with the potential issue of exploitation”, Senator Wong said.

Mr Robb reinforced that position, observing that Labor had “accepted that nothing in the agreement, and nothing in the MOU and nothing in the side letters, nothing will change”. “But if they’ve got something sensible which gives them comfort, and we can do it, certainly we’ll talk to them about it, but we haven’t seen that yet”.

“Given that there are still concerns, we will continue to have a conversation with our members and the Australian people about our concerns that remain”.

Labor also wants the Migration Act for employers under Investment Facilitation Arrangement to be amended so that jobs can be promoted locally before those can be offered to foreign workers.

The second requests the base rate of pay for 457 visa workers, which the Abbott government froze, be increased from about $54,000 a year to $57,000 and indexed thereafter.

As well, 457 visa workers in trades such as electrical work or plumbing would need to obtain an occupational licence or registration within 60 days of arriving in Australia.