MEDIA RELEASE, April 20, 2017: AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today that Australia should not proceed with the PACER-Plus trade deal between Australia, New Zealand and only 12 of the original 14 Pacific Island countries. Without the two largest economies, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, PACER-Plus has failed as a regional agreement.
24 March 2017: The Australian and Chinese governments’ announcement of a review of the Investment Facilitation Memorandum of Understanding attached to the China-Australia free trade agreement should result in the MOU’s cancellation, AFTINET convener Doctor Patricia Ranald said today. Read the full media release here.
MEDIA RELEASE, 16 March 2017: Representatives from all TPP countries except the US missed an opportunity to strive for fairer trade deals when they praised the dead TPP in a statement following a meeting today in Viña del Mar, Chile.
Media Release: February 27, 2017: Negotiations between Australia, New Zealand China, India, Japan, South Korea and 10 ASEAN countries continue this week for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Kobe, Japan. The negotiations are held in secret, and the Japanese government has been reluctant to allow community groups to meet with negotiators, only arranging a short meeting with little notice. Negotiations will continue through 2017.
Leaked documents have revealed that TPP-like proposals on stronger medicine monopolies and investor rights to sue governments are on the table. Community groups from most RCEP countries have urged governments to reject these proposals and release negotiating texts. See AFTINET media release here.
Tell the Australian trade Minister to say no to the TPP in the RCEP here.
Media Release February 7, 2017: “AFTINET welcomes the conclusion of the ALP members of the Senate inquiry into the TPP that the implementing legislation should not proceed but be deferred,” AFTINET Convener Dr Patricia Ranald said today.“However we believe that the TPP is not in Australia’s interest and the Australian Parliament should not approve the implementing legislation either now or in the future,” read the full release here.
Media Release: 6 February, 2017: Fifty-three diverse health, church, union, environment and aid organisations representing more than two million Australians have endorsed a letter calling on Labor to reject the failed TPP and ensure fairness in future trade deals, including the RCEP.
“Not only would it be futile to endorse an agreement that would never come into effect but it would also be damaging for future trade debate in Australia,” they write.
Media Release January 31, 2017: "The latest leaked Trade in Services documents confirm that the negotiations are driven by the interests of global services companies that want to maximise profitable trade in services and minimise government regulation in the public interest. Many of these are similar to proposals in the now-dead Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network of community groups (AFTINET) said today. Read the full release here.
January 24, 2017: Dr Particia Ranald's oped in the Fairfax media argues for inclusive and progressive fair trade policies as an alternative to both fundamentalist 'free' trade and Trump and Hansen's knee-jerk nationalism and discrimination based on fear.
MEDIA RELEASE, January 23 2017: “President Donald Trump’s statement confirming the US withdrawal from the TPP has definitely killed the deal, and it would be futile for Prime Minister Turnbull to persist with the implementing legislation for ratification of a dead agreement,” Dr Patricia Ranald, Convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network of community groups (AFTINET) said today.
Media release, January 16, 2017: "The Prime Minister is backing a dead horse in his attempt to push the TPP implementing legislation through the Parliament despite the fact that Donald Trump has said the US will withdraw from the agreement,” Dr Patricia Ranald said today.The Australian Senate inquiry into the TPP will report on February 7.