An interim India-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is reportedly only weeks away:
Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the long-awaited agreement would conclude in the “next three weeks”.
It comes after multiple rounds of negotiations between the two countries, with former prime minister Tony Abbott even called in last year to help the stalled negotiations .
Two-way goods and services trade with India is worth over $24 billion.Mr Tehan said such an agreement with India would be critical for Australia, following recent export bans from China.
“We will continue to very strongly defend our exporters and the current actions that have been taken by China. In the meantime we will continue to find alternative markets,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.
According to the Times of India, this FTA could give Indian students an additional three to five years of work rights, as well as making it easier for Aussie businesses to employ Indians:
India and Australia are discussing the possibility of giving Indian students Down Under visas for an additional period of three-five years as part of the bilateral trade agreement that is under negotiations.
Easier visa access for Indian students in Australia as well as some of the professionals is a key demand from New Delhi…
An Indian FTA must not include immigration clauses. Immigration is covered in Australia’s ‘Migration Programme’, and there is little sense in negotiating away control of our sovereign borders to another nation – and in the process diluting Australian wages and working conditions – for slightly improved market access.
FTAs should be for trade and nothing else. Leave immigration out these agreements.
Australia’s union movement and Labor need to push back hard against this deal, which would be unambiguously negative for Australian workers.
