Simon Birmingham has welcomed Labor's support on a series of trade deals.
Camera IconSimon Birmingham has welcomed Labor's support on a series of trade deals.

Deepening trade rift between Labor, unions

Daniel McCulloch and Marnie BangerAAP

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There is a deepening rift between Labor and the union movement over free-trade deals, with three agreements edging closer to passing federal parliament.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions says the pacts with Indonesia, Peru and Hong Kong should never have been signed.

"The way these negotiations happen, they happen in secret, there is no oversight and there is no independent economic assessment as to the value," ACTU president Michele O'Neil told ABC radio on Tuesday.

"We then have them presented to an inquiry after they are signed, sealed and delivered and they've got problems with them."

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But Labor's trade spokeswoman Madeleine King said the party had to be "practical and pragmatic" about what it could achieve from opposition.

"We have got a number of concessions from the government ... which I believe improve the overall position of not only these treaties but the treaty-making process," she said.

Ms King conceded there had been no recent modelling on the deals, but insisted they had been examined in the past.

"That demonstrated that there would be significant economic benefit for the country."

Legislation underpinning the deals passed the lower house on Monday night with Labor's support.

The opposition confirmed last week it would back the deals but wanted Trade Minister Simon Birmingham to make a series of assurances.

The minister wrote to the opposition on Monday, with Labor leader Anthony Albanese saying his commitments meant the opposition could safely back the laws in parliament.

"I'm convinced that overall these will be positive," he told the lower house.

Senator Birmingham welcomed Labor's support and said ratification of the agreements would boost export opportunities and deliver significant benefits for Australian farmers and businesses.

"These free-trade agreements will open new doors and deliver wide-ranging benefits for Australian exporters," he said in a statement.

But unions and lower house crossbenchers were disappointed, fearing the trade deals will put the Australian government at risk of being sued by big business.

"You're watching the corporate colonisation of your country," Queensland MP Bob Katter said.

Opponents are also worried there is little evidence of the economic benefits the free trade deals will deliver and that they could put foreign workers at risk of exploitation.

Senator Birmingham expects the draft laws to clear the Senate by the end of the year.

Hong Kong and Peru have completed their ratification processes and it is expected Indonesia will complete its in a similar time frame to Australia.