Labor divides on TPP

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By Leith van Onselen

Already under fire from the union movement for passing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement because of its deleterious impact on Australian workers, some Labor MP are also in open revolt. From The Herald-Sun:

Minutes of a heated meeting of federal Labor MPs last week have been leaked, revealing widespread internal opposition to Mr Shorten’s support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Speaker after speaker denounced the TPP, saying it was bad for workers and would hurt the party with voters, possibly driving some into the arms of One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

The leak is a breach of Labor Party discipline unprecedented in recent times.

A “slight majority” of the 23 MPs who spoke — from both Left and Right — opposed the TPP.

The opponents of the TPP once again tried, and failed, to reverse party support for it in Tuesday’s caucus meeting.

They claim the deal will erode labour standards and allow foreign companies to sue the Australian government…

Former ACTU president Ged Kearney, the Member for Batman in Victoria, dismissed the TPP’s provisions to protect workers as “weak and aspirational at best”.

Instead of blindly supporting the TPP, Labor should have demanded the deal be independently and transparently assessed by the Productivity Commission prior to offering its support.

Bill Shorten deserves the backlash that is coming.

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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.