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The red meat industry is concerned that opposition to the China Free Trade Agreement will delay its ratification in Parliament.
A round of public hearings by Joint Standing Committee on Treaties is attracting union protests. The latest in Sydney was no exception.
While protesters outside NSW Parliament blocked the street and shouted down the deal as bad for workers, inside they were supported by the Fair Trade and Investment Network..
The network's Dr Patricia Ranald gave evidence that the deal was uniquely bad, and worse than the Korean or Japanese trade deals, because it opened Australia up to accept imported cheap labour.
With projects and investments greater than $150 million, companies can bring in workers with no need for labour market testing. The deal also removes the mandatory skills assessment for electricians, carpenters and mechanics.
"There'll be no rights for collective bargaining and they'll be vulnerable to exploitation and isolation," Dr Ranald said.
"They could be paid at a minimum Australian rate, less than local rates.
"Look at the Shenhua mine, being contemplated, not quite approved.
"Supporters say it will create 600 jobs in construction and several hundred ongoing.
"If that company was able to get an investment facilitation agreement under the China Free Trade Agreement they could negotiate for an unspecified number of skilled and unskilled workers to be brought in.
"Their conditions would only have to be Australian minimum conditions."
But red meat industry representatives told the hearing that any delay to signing the deal will be costly, and put Australia behind New Zealand, which signed its deal with China in 2008 and will export goods, tariff free by the end of 2016.
Chinese tariffs on Australian beef, sheep meat and goat meat, plus offal and hides, amounts to $826 million.
As tariffs are removed over the next nine years the red meat industry said it would add $270 million a year to beef production, and $150 million to sheep meat a year.
The industry's David Larkin emphasised that the benefits of the deal would flow to producers with 13-26 c/kg (dressed weight) higher prices for sheep and 8c/kg extra for beef cattle producers.
"It's a game changer and it's critical that we see it implemented quickly," he said.
"We will be at a distinct disadvantage to our closest competitor New Zealand, which already has two tariff reductions ahead of us.
The case put up by the Fair Trade and Investment Network argues that if a Chinese investor took over Mr Larkin's meat processing works, it could import workers. Mr Larkin rejected the idea.
"I think the reality is they wouldn't bring in Chinese workers," he said.
"The Chinese already own abattoirs in Australia and use local workers.
"Employment of Australians and the skills of Australians is important to us."
Blackmores health supplements China focussed
Christine Holgate, the chief executive of Blackmores, Australasia's largest natural health company, said jobs were being created by the booming sales to China.
"In the last three months alone Blackmores has created 100 jobs on the northern beaches of Sydney, an area that is quite suppressed with jobs," she explained.
"The growth we're getting from China has enabled us to deliver productivity benefits, enabling us to more than double our tax contribution back to the Australian Government."
Health supplements currently face 20 to 25 per cent tariffs when traded to China. Those tariffs will be eliminated over a few years as a result of the free trade deal, which Ms Holgate said would help them compete with lower quality and lower priced products.
The Joint Committee on Treaties will continue to hold public meetings in August in Canberra and Perth ahead of Parliament ratifying the Free Trade Agreement with China.
Liberal MP: ratify ChAFTA now
The Member for the NSW seat of Hume Angus Taylor has slammed the unions and the Australian Labor Party for delaying ratification of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, saying the delays are costing Australia's farmers millions in lost revenue.
"This is one of the biggest threats to farming I have seen in my career. Right now we are poised to take advantage of a dining boom," Mr Taylor said.
"We know the ChAFTA is central to realising the benefits of the boom."
Mr Taylor said given the deal has been 10 years in the making, involving both sides of politics, no further reviews were necessary and delays were attempts by Australian unions to sink the deal.
"The real agenda of the CFMEU is to stop the agreement, let us be clear about that."
Topics: fruit, vegetables, beef-cattle, dairy-production, agribusiness, goat-production, sheep-production, trade, sydney-2000, adelaide-5000
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