The Wire

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says the basis for a free trade agreement with China must be re-examined, following the release of a report claiming that such a deal would cost the manufacturing sector 170,000 jobs. The report, commissioned by the AMWU, was released at the weekend Labor conference with the aim of sparking a re-examination of the deal which is just one of many FTAs being hammered out by the Australian government. While the Federal Australian Government has dismissed the report, its authors claim that previous free trade agreements entered into by Australia provide compelling proof that the agreement should be scrapped.