Independent Tassie MP Andrew Wilkie: “There is no reason why virtually all local construction in Tasmania shouldn’t be done by local workers. They are available and have the skills and the knowledge to get the job done.”

“The Australia-China Free Trade Agreement will allow unskilled Chinese workers to work on high value Chinese projects in Australia, without any requirement for labour market testing.”

“This isn’t about racism as the Government is claiming. It’s about a fair deal for all workers. The fact is that Chinese workers will take jobs from Australians and that those Chinese workers will almost certainly be underpaid by Australian standards. The Federal Government must go back to the drawing board on the China FTA to protect local jobs.”