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TPP last ditch talks: Turnbull should refuse shameful trade-offs on medicines, investor rights

MEDIA RELEASE, September 24, 2015

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiators are meeting from September 26 ahead of a TPP Trade Ministers meeting from September 30 in Atlanta, Georgia in a desperate final attempt to reach a deal this year, AFTINET has sought a meeting with Prime Minister Turnbull to advocate that Australia should not agree to stronger monopolies on biologic medicines, draconian copyright rules on the Internet and to foreign investor rights to sue governments for damages over domestic legislation (ISDS). 

Senior bureaucrat confirms no China FTA testing for local workers

September 9, 2015: The Prime Minister's claim in Parliament that  the China FTA allows " no possibility of placing any foreigner in an Australian job without labour market testing"  was flatly contradicted by the evidence of a senior officer from  Department of Immigration and Border Protection to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on September 7 .

Shorten criticism of China FTA backed by academics

September 3, 2015: the Sydney Morning Herald reports that ALP Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is sticking to his criticism that China FTA does not require testing for local workers for projects over $150 million, despite government denials. Associate Prof Stuart Rosewarne and migration law expert Joanne Howe writing in The Drum agree with this criticism after analysing both the text of the agreement and the government’s response.

150 Health experts say no TPP tradeoffs on medicines, investor rights

Over one hundred and fifty senior Australian academics and others with expertise in public health and medicine have called on Trade Minister Andrew Robb to remain firm in his resolve to protect health and the environment in negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

The letter was initiated by the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) following concerns that some of the gains made by the Minister could be traded for sugar or some other commodity. see the media release here

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