The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was formally signed on 17 June 2015 at Parliament House in Canberra by Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng [1].
The claim conflates two different concepts: (1) confidential trade negotiations (which are standard international practice), and (2) keeping the final agreement text permanently secret from the public.
The final ChAFTA text was never kept secret from the public - it was released in full when signed [4].
Greens Greens 和 hé 其他 qí tā 批评者 pī píng zhě 反对 fǎn duì 的 de 是 shì 进行 jìn xíng 机密 jī mì 贸易谈判 mào yì tán pàn 的 de 标准 biāo zhǔn 做法 zuò fǎ , , 即 jí 在 zài 谈判 tán pàn 阶段 jiē duàn 不 bù 公开 gōng kāi 谈判 tán pàn 立场 lì chǎng 和 hé 草案 cǎo àn 文本 wén běn 。 。
What the Greens and other critics were objecting to was the standard practice of conducting trade negotiations confidentially, where negotiating positions and draft texts are not made public during the negotiation phase.
Parliamentary records show that after signing, the agreement was tabled in Parliament and reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT), as required by Australia's treaty-making process [6].
The text was publicly released when signed**
The ChAFTA text was not kept permanently secret - it was publicly released on 17 June 2015 when the agreement was formally signed [1].
Confidential negotiations are standard international practice**
All trade negotiations worldwide are conducted confidentially, including by the United States, European Union, and all Australian governments [5].
Parliament had full access to review the agreement**
After signing, ChAFTA underwent the standard Australian parliamentary treaty scrutiny process through JSCOT [6].
The "vote" claim is misleading**
The claim references a "vote" to keep the text secret, but this appears to conflate votes on parliamentary procedure regarding confidential briefings during the negotiation phase, not a vote to permanently withhold the final agreement text from the public.
Senator Whish-Wilson filed a formal dissenting report to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee's inquiry into ChAFTA, recommending that "binding treaty action not be taken" [8].
While the Greens' concerns about trade transparency are legitimate political positions, the media release employs rhetorical framing that conflates confidential negotiations with hiding the final agreement.
作为 zuò wéi 一个 yí gè 持反 chí fǎn ChAFTA ChAFTA 立场 lì chǎng 的 de 政党 zhèng dǎng , , 他们 tā men 的 de 描述 miáo shù 应 yīng 被 bèi 理解 lǐ jiě 为 wèi 党派 dǎng pài 倡导 chàng dǎo , , 而 ér 非 fēi 中立 zhōng lì 的 de 事实 shì shí 报道 bào dào 。 。
As a political party with an anti-ChAFTA stance, their characterizations should be understood as partisan advocacy rather than neutral factual reporting.
**Did Labor do something similar?**
Search conducted: "Labor government Korea Australia Free Trade Agreement KAFTA confidential parliamentary process"
Finding: Yes.
* * * *
The Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) was negotiated under the previous Labor government and followed identical processes.
KAFTA was signed on 8 April 2014 during the Labor government (April 2014 was under the Abbott Coalition government, but negotiations began under Labor in 2009) [9].
发现 fā xiàn : : 是 shì 的 de 。 。
More importantly, Labor governments have negotiated numerous trade agreements using the same confidential negotiation process, including:
- KAFTA (negotiations began under Labor in 2009, concluded 2014)
- The original US-Australia Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) negotiated under the Howard Coalition government with Labor subsequently supporting it
Labor has subsequently supported trade agreements following the same processes they now criticize, including voting for ChAFTA implementing legislation [10].
While the Greens' criticism of trade agreement transparency has merit as a policy position, the specific claim that the Coalition "voted to keep the text of the China Free Trade deal secret from the public" is misleading in several ways:
**What the claim gets right:**
- Trade negotiations were conducted confidentially, with draft texts not publicly released during negotiations
- The Greens and others raised legitimate concerns about the lack of transparency in the negotiation process
- There were parliamentary votes related to confidential briefing procedures
**What the claim omits or mischaracterizes:**
- The final ChAFTA text was publicly released when signed on 17 June 2015 [1]
- Confidential negotiations are standard practice used by all Australian governments, including Labor
- Parliament had full access to review the agreement text through the JSCOT process before implementation
- The claim conflates confidential negotiations (temporary) with hiding the final text (which never happened)
**Comparative context:**
This is not unique to the Coalition.
* * * * 该 gāi 说法 shuō fǎ 正确 zhèng què 的 de 地方 dì fāng : : * * * *
The Australian treaty-making process has remained consistent across governments of different parties.
Labor governments have negotiated trade agreements using identical confidential processes, and Labor ultimately supported ChAFTA's passage through Parliament [10].
- - Greens Greens 和 hé 其他人 qí tā rén 就 jiù 谈判 tán pàn 过程 guò chéng 缺乏 quē fá 透明度 tòu míng dù 提出 tí chū 了 le 合理 hé lǐ 的 de 担忧 dān yōu
The Greens' broader argument - that Australia's treaty-making process should be more transparent - is a legitimate policy position that they have advocated consistently across governments [7].
What was kept confidential was the negotiation process - a standard practice employed by all Australian governments, including Labor, and by governments worldwide.
The claim conflates confidential trade negotiations (temporary, standard practice) with permanently hiding the final agreement text from the public (which did not occur).
所 suǒ 提及 tí jí 的 de 议会 yì huì " " 投票 tóu piào " " 似乎 sì hū 涉及 shè jí 关于 guān yú 谈判 tán pàn 期间 qī jiān 机密 jī mì 简报 jiǎn bào 的 de 程序性 chéng xù xìng 事项 shì xiàng , , 而 ér 非 fēi 投票决定 tóu piào jué dìng 永久 yǒng jiǔ 向 xiàng 公众 gōng zhòng 隐瞒 yǐn mán 签署 qiān shǔ 的 de 协议 xié yì 文本 wén běn 。 。
The parliamentary "vote" referenced appears to relate to procedural matters about confidential briefings during negotiations, not a vote to permanently withhold the signed agreement text.
What was kept confidential was the negotiation process - a standard practice employed by all Australian governments, including Labor, and by governments worldwide.
The claim conflates confidential trade negotiations (temporary, standard practice) with permanently hiding the final agreement text from the public (which did not occur).
所 suǒ 提及 tí jí 的 de 议会 yì huì " " 投票 tóu piào " " 似乎 sì hū 涉及 shè jí 关于 guān yú 谈判 tán pàn 期间 qī jiān 机密 jī mì 简报 jiǎn bào 的 de 程序性 chéng xù xìng 事项 shì xiàng , , 而 ér 非 fēi 投票决定 tóu piào jué dìng 永久 yǒng jiǔ 向 xiàng 公众 gōng zhòng 隐瞒 yǐn mán 签署 qiān shǔ 的 de 协议 xié yì 文本 wén běn 。 。
The parliamentary "vote" referenced appears to relate to procedural matters about confidential briefings during negotiations, not a vote to permanently withhold the signed agreement text.