SENATOR PENNY WONG, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE: Thanks very much for coming. I wanted to make some comments about the finalisation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Labor welcomes the finalisation of negotiations on the TPP. Obviously this is an agreement that governments of both political persuasions have worked on over the last five years. We have said wesupport the principle of trade liberalisation, as Labor has fordecades because it has thebenefits of more jobs andbetter economic growth forAustralians.
We also note todayMr Robb's assurances that thisagreement will not decreaseaccessibility of medicines inthis country and it will notput upward pressure on theprice of medicine. We will holdMr Robb to that assurance. Itis one of the issues we've been concerned about for some time.We made it very clear this wasa red line for Labor, we didnot agree with making medicinesin this country less affordable and more difficult toaccess. Mr Robb has given anassurance, well certainly be scrutinising the agreement tohold him to that assurance.
Obviously I have not seen the agreement yet,but we will responsiblyconsider the text of theagreement when it is released.
JOURNALIST: Will you seek a briefing fromMr Robb ahead of time?
WONG: Yes, we will. Well be asking Mr Robb to brief Laborand relevant Shadow Ministersas soon as possible aboutwhat's in the agreement. Ithink in particular people willbe concerned to ensure that hisassurance about theaccessibility and affordabilityof medicines in this countryhas been delivered in thedetail of the agreement.
JOURNALIST: Doyou have any concerns about whenyou do see the detail therewill be some kind of a gotcha moment? Outside of medicines are thereother concerns
WONG: There are alwaysissues in trade agreements and theresalways issues when you look atthe press releases versuswhat's in the agreement.
Forexample, today some of thepress is reporting a reportfrom the University of Adelaidewhich shows that the China FreeTrade Agreement does containprovisions in relation tolabour market testing which areproblematic and reallyconfirming Labor's concerns. Butin relation to the TPP, wewelcome Mr Robb's assurances thathe's held the line in therelation to the accessibilityof medicines. We'll certainly be holding him tothat and we will consider andanalyse the whole of theagreement in the nationalinterest.
JOURNALIST: It's not a final dealthough. As an observer, do youthink it will get through theUS Congress?
WONG: That's ultimatelyan issue for the US Congress.It's certainly beencontroversial over there.Ultimately an issue forthem.
JOURNALIST: If it doesn't getthrough, does it hold anywater, is it a valid deal?
WONG: I think inany international negotiationthat's always something the UShas to deal with. It has todeal with its own domesticpolitical situation as any nation negotiating a trade orinternational agreement has todeal with.
Our job as the Opposition is not to secondguess the Congress but to lookat this agreement and determineif we believe it's inAustralia's best interests.
JOURNALIST: What's the relative importanceof the TPP as a multilateral asopposed to bilateralagreement?
WONG: Thats a very good question.We're working in a world wheremultilateral trade reform hasobviously progressed much more slowly thanpeople would have liked and asa result we've seen a greaternumber of bilateralarrangements and a greaternumber of regionalarrangements.
It's inAustralia's interest, Ithink, for there to be thebroadest possible tradeliberalisation and one of thebenefits of the Trans-PacificPartnership is that it covers12 countries, 40 per cent of globalGDP, that's obviously a benefitwhen you have all of thosenations part of the same tradearrangements.
JOURNALIST: Do you think thejob prospects of the bilateraldeals were exaggerated in themedia?
WONG: I think the Governmenthas failed in relation to theChina Free Trade Agreement todeal with reasonable concernsand certainly talked up the benefits in a way that didn't mean theydealt with some of thereasonable concerns and I'dencourage Andrew Robb to talknot only to the Australianpeople but to the Oppositionabout the legitimate concernswe have in relation to theChina Free Trade Agreement.
JOURNALIST: Put another way, is theregreater jobs outside of thisdeal than the bilateral deal?
WONG: I think a better way oflooking at it is this: we knowfrom many years of tradeliberalisation in Australiathat ultimately having moremarkets in which to sell ourgoods and our services meanshigher wages and more jobs forAustralians and that's whatthis is all about.
JOURNALIST: There'sbeen some concerns aboutmultinational corporationsdictating some of the terms, is that something youreconcerned about?
WONG: Certainly, I think the issue ofaccess to medicines was one area where the rubber hit the road, as it were. I thinkalso in relation to theInvestor-State DisputeSettlement clauses, we've beenconcerned as a Party about themfor some time. We've said ingovernment we wouldn't includethem in trade agreements.
Weare concerned at the inclusionof those clauses which allow
multinationals to suegovernments. Andrew Robb sayshe's negotiated goodsafeguards, we'll certainlyhave a look at them but Laboras a matter of principle isopposed to those clauses. Thankyou.