"If the China-Australia free trade agreement proceeds without labour market protections, the Turnbull government will "effectively surrender autonomy over its migration laws" and invite a wave of Chinese workers into Australia, driving down local wages and conditions, a new report has found.
The politically-explosive findings are contained in a report by employment migration expert Dr Joanna Howe, a senior law lecturer at Adelaide University and Rhodes Scholar who has advised the current Coalition government on its temporary worker 457 visa program.
Dr Howe's report – the result of three months spent sifting through the FTA and its attachments – found the agreement negotiated by Trade Minister Andrew Robb "greatly increases the pathways for Chinese workers to enter the Australian labour market".
"In Dr Howe's assessment, Article 10.4, paragraph 3, of the FTA prevents the Australian government from putting any cap on the number of 457 visas issued to Chinese workers in two critical lower skilled categories: "contractual service suppliers of China" – basically trade qualified workers and "installers and servicers of China" – low skilled workers who will be able to access temporary visas.
"Even if the Australian government wished to constrain the number of 457 visa holders more generally because local unemployment was high or to reflect changing economic circumstances, it could not do so with respect to Chinese citizens," Dr Howe found."
