Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Ted O’Brien has taken aim at Trade Minister Don Farrell for proposing that Australian superannuation savings be used to assist the struggling US lamb sector.
He called on Anthony Albanese to rein in his minister and clarify whether Australians’ retirement savings were being used as a “political bargaining chip” in negotiations with Washington.
The warning comes after Senator Farrell pitched United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on a plan for Australia’s $4.5 trillion superannuation sector to invest in the US lamb sector.
Senator Farrell raised the idea at the G20 trade ministers meeting in Milwaukee and argued the proposal could head off a pending investigation that might place additional tariffs on Australian lamb exports to the US.
