Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has joined some other politicians who expressed their support for a free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and China, saying the deal is "undeniably good for Australia," local media reported Sunday.
Bishop, quoted by Channel 10, said she did not believe the agreement posed any threat to Australian jobs, as charged by the country's political opposition and trade unions, the report said, adding that industry groups have also pushed for a speedy China-Australia FTA deal.
Australian Finance Minister Mathias Cormann also slammed the trade unions' campaign against the FTA, led by the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and urged the Labor to listen to former prime minister Bob Hawke, who last week came out in support of the deal.
"Bob Hawke is quite right with his intervention," Cormann told Sky News.
Hawke was telling the Labor leader Bill Shorten to politely step away from this racist, protectionist, dishonest campaign that's being run by the CFMEU and other parts of the union movement, Cormann said.
CFMEU has launched a vocal campaign over the past weeks airing attack ads and holding rolling protests outside state and federal parliament houses.
On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott also urged the country's political opposition to listen to "decent" people like Hawke and former Foreign Minister Bob Carr on the China-Australia FTA, instead of the "racist lie" being pushed by Australia's trade unions.
Abbott told Australia's national broadcaster that he can "absolutely" guarantee that Australian jobs will not be lost from the agreement.
Hawke, a former trade union boss, urged the Labor opposition and trade unions not to go "backwards" on the issue.
"Talk of opposing git is just absolutely against Australia's best interests," Hawke told News Corp.
Trade Minister Andrew Robb has warned China will walk away from the deal if Australia seeks to renegotiate it.
Meanwhile, the Australian National Farmers Federation, Minerals Council and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) are preparing to hit back against the union claims with an advertising campaign of their own in support of the agreement, and pushed the federal parliament to ratify the free trade deal with China by the end of the year.
The groups said any delay in parliament ratifying the FTA will deprive businesses of new jobs and export opportunities, 9news.com reported on Sunday.
ACCI chief executive Kate Carnell said critics are creating fear the FTA will lead to a flood of unqualified Chinese workers.
"Their scaremongering is damaging to Australia's interests and our relationship with China, a key trading partner," she said.
"Many Australian small businesses are exploring export opportunities and China has enormous potential as a destination, so it is vital we make it as easy as possible for them."
Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Brendan Pearson said it's "unthinkable" that the parliament might delay the elimination of the six percent tariff on China-Australia trade, the report said.
The Chinese and Australian governments signed the agreement in Canberra on June 17, freeing up trade between the two countries.
The agreement finalized negotiations that began 10 years ago and followed the Declaration of Intent signed in November by the two countries' leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Abbott.
China has also pledged an early implementation of the China-Australia free trade agreement.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, during his meeting with Andrew Robb on Friday in Beijing, called on both sides to work for the early implementation of the agreement so as to benefit both peoples and industries.
