Senator SESELJA (Australian Capital Territory) (15:17): I am very pleased that Senator Bilyk, having criticised people for attacking the person, spent all of her time attacking the person! She spent all of her time attacking the person, can I say, falsely. I want to go through a couple of the issues that Senator Bilyk touched on, including the G20, and the free trade agreement—though not in any detail. Both Fairfax and News Limited publications have been praising what has come out of the G20. Let's read Mark Kenny's take on the G20: Leaders from the world's 20 largest economies have committed to historic levels of cooperation and transparency in a bid to dramatically raise growth, lift millions of people out of poverty, and propel up to 100 million women into the worldwide workforce for the first time. Brisbane's G20 summit concluded … with agreements to close tax loopholes used by multinationals, improve trade, encourage the setting of early emissions reduction targets, strengthen banks, reform energy markets including gas, and coordinate a stronger response to the Ebola epidemic. In one of the most conclusive G20 summits held, leaders adopted the Brisbane Action Plan which contains over 800 firm economic reforms to be undertaken domestically by member states in the hope of turbo-charging economic growth. That is not a bad outcome by a G20 led by Australia. Instead of the Labor Party bagging Australia and bagging the leadership, they should acknowledge what most people would see as absolute fact—that this was a highly successful G20 summit, ably led by our Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, ably led by the Australian government. We have heard questions on the free trade agreement between Australia and China. Again, both Fairfax and News Limited are praising what we are about to see in that free trade agreement. I think this will be a historic moment. Unfortunately, those on the other side simply could not get it done, so they seek to bag it. We can again quote from Mark Kenny: … the first termer's— referring to Prime Minister Abbott— record on trade is unprecedented. Before even reaching the half-way mark of his first stint, Abbott has crashed through the wall of inertia and the tangle of befuddling technical difference that has stopped many before him, to conclude crucial free trade agreements with our most important partners. This year alone, he has signed landmark bilateral trade agreements with Japan and Korea, ending years of deadlocked negotiations. Ably assisted by … Trade Minister Andrew Robb, whose commitment to staying the course is admired in trade circles world-wide, Abbott has succeeded where those before him failed to make ground. The secret ingredient is no secret at all: purpose. Debate interrupted. Sitting suspended from 15:20 to 17:00 Senator SESELJA: As I was saying before the break, I think there is much to celebrate in the outcomes of the G20, including—and this is something I did not get to mention before the break—the new global infrastructure hub. I think this is a fantastic initiative and I think it is fantastic that it is through Australia's leadership that it has been established and that it will be based in Sydney. That is another win. I will briefly touch on the free trade agreement. It was great to hear President Xi speaking about this in the other place, speaking about the very important ties between our two nations. I thought there was much we could take from that speech, as well as from Prime Minister Tony Abbott's speech. I have to say that I think the partisan note in the opposition leader's speech was unfortunate and unhelpful. I do not think it is appropriate, when we are hosting a major world leader, to get that kind of partisan speech from Bill Shorten. The opportunities arising out of the free trade agreement are endless. I thought Paul Kelly's piece on the weekend highlighted what a major breakthrough this would be—not just for our agricultural and mining sectors but particularly for services. Given the growth we are seeing in the Chinese middle class, the services sector is where massive opportunities lie. The middle class is already there, it is already massive, it is already prosperous and it is only going to grow. As a result, we will see opportunities in education and financial services. I see opportunities for our nation and I see opportunities for Canberra, for my home city—a place that is excellent at delivering services. We already have many exporters in this space. I commend the government for this free trade agreement. I think it will help to create great opportunities for our nation. (Time expired) Senator LINES: Labor does of course support free trade agreements. We recognise that China is a major trading partner and that a good free trade agreement can bring us many benefits. But, as Senator Wong said in this place earlier today, we have seen a lot of secrecy—way too much secrecy—around this free trade agreement. Indeed, we have seen nothing but orchestrated leaks from the government about what may and may not be in the free trade agreement. We have seen it talked up and we have seen it talked down. The more it remains in the dark, the more concerns Labor and the Australian public have. I have had a significant number of emails from Western Australians who want to see the detail of this free trade agreement. The Abbott government's track record is one of saying one thing and doing another. We all know the long list of broken promises. We certainly do not want to see Australia signing a blank cheque at the expense of our national interest. A particular issue of concern to me is protecting the rights of workers. We want a good trade agreement but not one that reduces the rights of Australian workers. We are not against skilled migration—Labor has a strong record in that regard—but we are against the abusive systems that exploit migrant workers, that hurt the entire Australian workforce by driving down wages and conditions, and that undercut businesses that play by the rules. We need to see the detail of this agreement. We have heard a lot about it, but we do need to see that detail. Currently in Australia there are more than a million people on some form of temporary visa, which is equivalent to 11 per cent of our workforce. If we are going to add to that, it cannot be at the expense of the Australian workforce and it cannot be at the expense of the benefits that Australian workers and Australian unions have fought for over a very long period of time. Not only has Labor said that the government needs to be transparent about this but so has the Productivity Commission, who have said that there should be transparency at all stages of the negotiations—not glossy pamphlets or brochures, not leaks to certain journalists, but real transparency—so that all Australians can see the detail and can express an opinion, through their elected representatives in this place, about areas of concern. The Abbott government, which we know to be a government of broken promises, says one thing and then negotiates quite the opposite—so the Australian community has very good reason to be concerned. Hopefully we will see some detail today. We certainly think the Australian parliament and the Australian people are entitled to that. The Labor Party will be looking at how this free trade agreement benefits Australians, how it creates growth in our economy and how that growth will flow to all. The Abbott government appears to think that the benefits of growth just trickle down, but of course they do not. We need to see how this free trade agreement creates wealth and prosperity for all Australians, not just for a favoured few, and we need to see how the rights of the Australian workforce are protected in all of this. I am not yet convinced that Mr Abbott has got the message on jobs. Free trade agreements should be about creating jobs—but not just jobs for the sake of jobs. They should be jobs that protect workers' rights, that give people a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and that do not undermine Australia's long and proud history as a fair go country. Question agreed to.