The leader of the opposition in New South Wales has lined up with two Labor premiers to back the China free trade agreement as it stands, at odds with the federal ALP leadership.
Luke Foley in NSW has joined Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and his South Australian counterpart Jay Weatherill in supporting the deal as it stands.
Foley told the Australian: “Labor has led the way on engagement with China. The next step is a free-trade agreement. Our future prosperity will rely on increased exports, particularly of non-mining goods and services.”
At the federal level, Labor and the union movement have concerns about the deal paving the way for foreign workers to take Australian jobs.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon said he has some genuine concerns about the deal and that there are legitimate questions over labour-market testing and investor-state dispute settlement clauses.
“I don’t think this is a good deal if you have a very clinical look at the text of the deal,” he told ABC radio.
