Australia's pending free trade agreement with China is all about jobs growth, not job losses, government leader in the Senate Eric Abetz says.
Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Friday rejected union fears of job losses under the deal and guaranteed that would "absolutely" not be the case.
But Senator Abetz stopped short of repeating the guarantee.
"There (are) going to be an extra 9000 jobs each year out to 2035. It stands to reason therefore that the China free trade agreement, rather than seeing job losses, will actually see jobs growth," he told reporters in Hobart.
Senator Abetz took a swipe at opponents of the deal.
"What you have is a rag tag team of Bill Shorten, (and Tasmanian Labor leader) Bryan Green of the CFMEU, trying to cause fear amongst the electorate in a quite pathetic bid to get some sort of traction," he said.
"This is not national leadership, this is base politics."
The Tasmanian senator cited support for the FTA from political leaders past and present, including former Labor prime minster Bob Hawke.
"All the Labor premiers and chief ministers support the free trade agreement."
Senator Abetz said forecasts show the deal will drive growth across multiple industries, including dairy, wine, seafood, agriculture and health services.
"The benefits at the end of the day will be jobs," he added.
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