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Fact checks released last year by The Conversation (here and here) and The ABC each found that the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) could lead to projects being wholly staffed by Temporary Skilled Chinese migrant workers with absolutely no labour market testing requirement.
Joanna Howe, a senior law lecturer at Adelaide University and Rhodes Scholar who has advised the Coalition government on its temporary 457 visa program, also believed that ChAFTA would “effectively surrender [Australia’s] autonomy over its migration laws” and invite a wave of Chinese workers into Australia, driving down local wages and conditions.
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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