贸易部长唐·法雷尔（Don Farrell）将会见澳大利亚全国农民联合会成员，试图争取欧盟自由贸易协定最坚定的批评者对其予以支持。该协议取消了进入世界第二大经济体欧盟的澳大利亚商品98%的关税，每年为澳大利亚带来额外的100亿澳元收益。尽管大多数行业对该协议表示欢迎，但全国农民联合会一再抨击其条款，其主席哈米什·麦金太尔（Hamish McIntyre）表示，该协议对红肉生产商、奶农和蔗农提供的配额“没有提供实质性改善”，这与2023年提供的配额相比没有变化。
Trade Minister Don Farrell will meet with National Farmers’ Federation members as he tries to get the EU free trade deal’s staunchest critics to back it. The deal scraps 98 per cent of tariffs on Australian goods entering the EU – the world’s second biggest economy – and is worth an extra $10bn-a-year to Australia. While most sectors have welcomed the agreement, the NFF has repeatedly blasted the terms, with president Hamish McIntyre saying it “offers no material improvement” for red meat producers, dairy farmers and canegrowers on quotas offered in 2023.
NewsWire了解到，参议员法雷尔将于周四在堪培拉会见全国农民联合会成员。在此之际，联盟党要求重新谈判。反对党外交事务发言人泰德·奥布赖恩（Ted O’Brien）本周绕过法雷尔参议员，致信外交部长黄英贤，呼吁她“进行干涉”。奥布赖恩指出，“前所未有的气候承诺”是一个核心关切，并要求进行单独谈判达成一项补充协议，以保护澳大利亚企业免受澳大利亚未达到国际义务时的惩罚。
NewsWire understands Senator Farrell will meet with NFF members in Canberra on Thursday. It comes as the Coalition demands a renegotiation. Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien this week bypassed Senator Farrell and wrote to Foreign Minister Penny Wong calling on her to “intervene”. Mr O’Brien pointed to “unprecedented climate commitments” as a core concern and requested a separately negotiated side deal protecting Australian business from penalties if Australia falls short of international obligations.
然而，文本规定，只有在堪培拉采取了实质性破坏《巴黎协定》目标和宗旨的政策时，才会触发惩罚。前总理托尼·阿博特曾代表澳大利亚承诺加入该协议。一名不愿透露姓名的欧盟官员周三告诉NewsWire，这是“纯粹理论上的”。他们说：“制裁不会因为……澳大利亚错过减排里程碑而被施加。”“澳大利亚政府是主权的。它可以批准化石燃料项目。”
However, the text states penalties could only be triggered if Canberra adopted a policy materially defeating the object and purpose of the Paris Agreement, which former prime minister Tony Abbott committed Australia to. An EU official speaking on condition of anonymity told NewsWire on Wednesday it was “purely theoretical”. “Sanctions can’t be imposed because … Australia misses an emissions milestone,” they said. “The Australian government is sovereign. It can approve fossil fuel projects.”They said Australia would “need to do something drastic like withdraw from Paris”.
他们表示，澳大利亚将“需要采取像退出《巴黎协定》这样激烈的行动”。他们补充说：“但即便如此，在距离实施制裁还很远之前，还有许多、许多的流程——多年的流程。而且我认为地缘政治现实使得这不可能发生。”
“But even then, there are many, many processes – years of processes – before we even get close to sanctions,” they added. “And I don’t think the geopolitical realities make it possible.”
法雷尔参议员也驳斥了关于气候的关切，称其为“稻草人”论点。在接受澳大利亚广播公司全国广播电台采访时，奥布赖恩承认协议中“有一些好的部分”，这与反对党贸易发言人马特·卡纳万（Matt Canavan）的立场有所不同，后者曾宣布该协议是“有史以来最糟糕的协议”。奥布赖恩说：“我们希望看到达成一项成功的协议，但目前桌上的协议不符合我们的国家利益。”
Senator Farrell has also dismissed the climate concerns as a “strawman” argument. Speaking to ABC Radio National, Mr O’Brien conceded there were “some good parts to the deal”, breaking with opposition trade spokesman Matt Canavan, who has declared it the “worst deal ever”. “We want to see a successful deal concluded, but right now, the deal on the table is not in our national interests,” Mr O’Brien said.
在一封回应奥布赖恩的信中，法雷尔参议员表示，阿尔巴尼斯政府坚信“该协议不仅高度符合我们的国家利益”，而且“拒绝该协议，特别是出于政治目的，将严重损害澳大利亚的声誉和在世界上的地位”。他写道：“欧盟是我们的第三大贸易伙伴，为澳大利亚农民和出口商提供了超过4.5亿人口的潜在市场。”
In a letter responding to Mr O’Brien, Senator Farrell said the Albanese government maintained “this agreement is not only strongly in our national interest” but that “the rejection of the agreement, particularly for political purposes, would significantly damage Australia’s reputation and place in the world”. “The European Union is our third largest trading partner, with a potential market for Australian farmers and exporters of over 450 million people,” he wrote.
他呼吁奥布赖恩和参议员卡纳万“重新考虑并进行建设性的接触”。法雷尔参议员说：“一如既往，我的大门向任何希望就政策、问题或关切进行沟通的议员敞开。”
He called on Mr O’Brien and Senator Canavan to “reconsider and engage constructively”. “As always, my door is open to any parliamentarian who wishes to engage on policy, questions, or concerns,” Senator Farrell said.