Trade Minister says he hasn’t read TPP agreement cover-to-cover
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo tells Ben Fordham he hasn’t read the full Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement which will be signed tomorrow.
The much-anticipated agreement will be signed in Chile and Australia is locked into the deal.
“I haven’t read the agreement cover to cover, that’s not something that I’ve done,” Minister Ciobo tells Ben.
“We obviously have whole teams that work on these agreements. We make sure we consult industry the entire way.”
Mr Ciobo says the details of the agreement have been available to the public “for months” and has rejected the Trans-Pacific Partnership will make it easier for foreign workers to access Australian jobs.
He says fears Australians will lose their jobs to overseas workers under the agreement is the result of a “scare campaign”.
“I’ve seen, unfortunately, the union movement out there running again another scare campaign.
“It’s very frustrating that the Australian Trade Union Movement just constantly are out there pedalling misinformation and deliberately so.”
He says the Partnership will make it easier for executives from a “limited range of skilled occupations” to travel between markets.
“We’re not talking about unskilled labour, we’re not talking about low skilled labour… which is what the unions would have you believe.”
Mr Ciobo says he hasn’t read the agreement cover-to-cover but they’ve consulted with the necessary industries.
Click PLAY below for the full interview