Why Australians should be worried about the TPP (that Tony Abbott is soon going to sign into law and sell-out Australia to the big corporations a little more) — August 2, 2013 by Ken Sievers, WikiLeaks Party member What is the TPP? The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the so-called “free trade” agreement currently under negotiation between the US, Australia and several other countries. [1] The US hopes to finalize these negotiations by October this year. The goal of the TPP is to make it easier for big business and international corporations to act across borders without interference from states. The TPP will effectively erode state oversight in favour of corporate freedom in areas such as the environment, workers rights, food safety, internet freedom, the costs of medicine, and financial regulation. Probably the most dangerous feature of the agreement as it now stands is the introduction of an Investor State Disputes Settlement (ISDS) system, in which foreign corporations are allowed to sue countries in order to protect the profitability of their investments. The TPP is another step in the direction of total market deregulation in the interests of international big business and is another threat to Australia’s national sovereignty. What is at stake is democratic society’s ability to regulate a market economy in the broad public interest. The TPP would constitute a further shift of power towards corporate rule without the normal means of democratic accountability, such as elections, advocacy and public protest. Corporations can sue countries in extrajudicial tribunals The ISDS provisions of the treaty authorize the establishment of supra-national tribunals, which would be independent of any other judicial system, to arbitrate disputes between corporations and states. A leaked text reveals the extreme corporate privilege that these investor-state tribunals constitute. Under the TPP, if a company believes an Australian law endangers its “expected future profits,” it can challenge the government at an investor-state tribunal. This tribunal has the power to overrule Australian laws and levy fines against the Australian state. More: wikileaksparty.org.au/why-australians-should-be-worried-about-the-tpp/
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 10:00:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015