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April 20th, 2013 
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has met with Chinese media in Melbourne in the wake of her recent trip.
Source: AAP
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has told Chinese media in Australia the two countries are working through economic sensitivities as they continue negotiations over a Free Trade Agreement.
Ms Gillard met about 30 members of the Chinese media after speaking at the Victorian Labor Party state conference in Melbourne on Saturday – just weeks after her trip to China.
The press conference, which was organised just for Chinese media, included members of local Chinese media groups, and China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
Ms Gillard was asked by the journalists what the major obstacles were on reaching an FTA with China.
Ms Gillard said Trade Minister Craig Emeraon had been working to secure an agreement on some issues where the prospects of agreement were very good.
“There are sensitivities on both sides, we are economies that are rich, that are complex, that have many industry segments in them,” she said.
“That’s true of the Australian economy, we’ve got a diverse economy, rich in its diversity, China has an increasingly diverse economy too.
“We’ll keep working on it … we’ll keep working on better and further exchange between China and Australia, both in trade and in investment.”
Ms Gillard was also told many Chinese were worried about United States Marines being based in Darwin, but she said no concerns had been raised by China’s president or premier over that plan.
“There is no reason for concern,” she said.
Ms Gillard was also forced to defend the government’s immigration policy, including its crackdown on 457 visas.
“We are doing what Australian governments have always done and will always do, which is to adjust our immigration settings in light of the needs of our economy at that time,” she said.
Ms Gillard said the 457 visa crackdown ensured the visas were used for their true purpose and that positions were firstly filled by qualified Australian workers.
“We have a non-discriminatory immigration policy, it is not targeted at any one country, it is non-discriminatory and from time to time we change policy settings depending on economic needs,” she said.
Xinhua journalist Bobby Xu said the Chinese saw their nation’s relationship with Australia as very important.
“We are very interested in the coming elections and also the relations between China and Australia,” he said.
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