China Fair Trade

Q. Australia and China are currently negotiating a Free Trade Agreement. Australian unions say the Free Trade Agreement fails to protect Australian workers because there is no requirement for Chinese companies to test the Australian labour market before they bring in foreign workers. The federal government says there are adequate protections in the Free Trade Agreement and that no investment will be allowed without Australian workers being offered jobs first. Whose opinion aligns most closely with your own?

 

	Total		Vote Labor	Vote Lib/Nat	Vote Greens	Vote other
The unions, who say the Free Trade Agreement fails to protect Australian workers	38%		53%	21%	54%	53%
The federal government, who say there are adequate protections in the Free Trade Agreement	20%		11%	39%	6%	14%
Don’t know enough to say	41%		36%	40%	40%	33%

 

The largest proportion of Australians (41%) don’t know enough about the Free Trade Agreement to answer the question.

For those that could answer, 38% were more inclined to agree with the unions, while just 20% agree with the Federal government.

Labor (53%) and Greens (54%) were more inclined to agree with the unions, while Coalition voters were more likely to agree with the Federal government (39%). However, the largest proportion of Coalition voters (40%) don’t know enough to say.