Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement
Monday 20 Apr 2015Many constituents have contacted me regarding the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.
The ALP shares concerns about the secrecy of the negotiations and the Abbott Government’s absolute refusal to make any part of the proposed agreement open to the scrutiny of the parliament.
Labor has repeatedly asked for parliamentary scrutiny through question time and finally through an order of the senate. We also moved in the senate an order which requires bilateral and pluilateral trade agreements to be tabled at least 14 days before signing. Labor’s position is very clear and that is that Parliament should see the final text of trade agreements before they are signed. The Abbott government continues to refuse to publicly release any information.
Labor believes the Abbott government has failed to keep the parliament and the public informed on the nature and progress of all its trade negotiations and this includes the TPP. The Abbott government is very happy to trumpet the benefits of agreements but refuses to tell Australians how it will treat some very difficult issues.
Labor has stated that any TPP must not
- Affect our ability to deliver public services
- Undermine labour and environmental standards
- Reduce the capacity of Australians to access affordable medicine through the PBS
- Must not radically alter the existing legal balance between creators and consumers of intellectual property
Further, Labor believes that the Abbott Government should not sign a TPP which would provide foreign corporations though the Investor-State Dispute Settlement clause with legal rights that are superior to the rights of domestic businesses.
Trade agreements, including the TPP do not require the authority of parliament before signing. The parliament has no oversight of trade agreements. It is only where a trade agreement requires legislative change that it would come before the parliament and that would be restricted to the particular piece of the trade agreement requiring the change, not the agreement itself.
Senator Penny Wong is Labor’s Shadow Minister for Trade and Investment. I have provided links to Senator Wong’s response to the statement on the TPP by the Minister representing the Minister for Trade and Investment in the Senate and the Hansard of the motion requiring the TPP to be tabled in the parliament before it’s signed.
It is the Abbott Government who has ultimate responsibility for trade agreements and Minister Robb in particular. This is where pressure needs to be applied.
For further info:
Anne Urquhart - Notice of Motion