“DIRTY tricks” by beleaguered federal Labor leader Bill Shorten’s CFMEU mates could cost Geelong and Australia billions of dollars in job-creating industries, according to MP Sarah Henderson.
The Corangamite MHR and Trade Minister Andrew Robb today slammed CFMEU claims Australia’s landmark free trade agreement with China would allow Chinese companies to bring in their own workforces at the expense of Australian jobs as both “xenophobic and utterly false”.
Ms Henderson attacked claims she said “were being peddled in automated phone calls” and newspaper advertisements to Corangamite residents and to other parts of the country.
“Bill Shorten must call off his CFMEU attack dogs ,” she said.
“No jobs in the Geelong region are under threat; on the contrary, the China FTA is about encouraging billions and billions of dollars of new job-creating investment for communities like ours.
“Unfortunately, the community needs to steel itself for 15 months of these dirty tricks by the CFMEU on behalf of Bill Shorten and the Labor Party in the lead up to the next Federal election.
“Under the China FTA, Chinese companies investing at least $150 million in infrastructure projects are subject to strict conditions. They must employ local workers unless it can be shown there is a genuine workforce shortage in a particular sector.”
“This means that Corangamite jobs will always come first,” Ms Henderson said.
Mr Robb said Labor under Bill Shorten was using the CFMEU as a political megaphone to frighten people.
