Bill F.
Negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement are currently being concluded in Singapore, and look like caving in to demands by US imperialism to include so-called Investor State Dispute Settlement provisions. (ISDS)
At the secretive talks are trade delegations from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. Australian Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb will inevitably sign on the dotted line sometime in the next few months.
He will be signing a document of treachery and betrayal which will allow foreign corporate monopolies to sue Australian governments for introducing or maintaining laws and regulations that prevent or hinder the corporations’ ability to make profits – laws such as health and safety regulations, environmental protections and preservations, Australian content quotas for TV, subsidies for art and culture, even quarantine provisions!
ISDS clauses in an obscure trade agreement with Hong Kong have already been invoked by subsidiary of tobacco monopoly Philip Morris to take Australia to an international tribunal over its plain packaging laws, despite having lost its case in the Australian High Court.
Robb already has form on this. Only a few months ago he signed off on a "free trade" deal with South Korea which included ISDS clauses.
The Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has refused a Senate request to see the text of the TPP before it is signed and it won’t even be debated. Parliament may get to see it when it comes up for formal ratification, but that’s a rubber stamp job with only 20 days provided for any sort of scrutiny, let alone public consultation and debate.
It just demonstrates the irrelevance of parliament when it comes to issues of the economic and political agenda of US imperialism. Like the people, it is just brushed aside!
It also demonstrates why the Australian people can’t rely on parliament and treacherous politicians to defend either our well-being or our national independence.
The only guarantee of this is to cast out imperialist interests and restructure society so that working people own and control the wealth and resources rather than big corporate monopolies.
Nation-wide meetings and rallies are being organised in all the capital cities on February 7th to expose and condemn the imposition of this treacherous deal.
Melbourne: 6 pm City Square
Brisbane: 4 pm Parliament House
Sydney: 12 pm Sydney Town Hall
Perth: 1 pm State Library
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