The Trade and Foreign Investment (Protecting the Public Interest) Act 2014 was introduced into the Senate by Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in March 2014. The purpose of the Bill is to protect Australian laws by banning provisions which enable foreign investors to sue governments if domestic laws “harm” their investment, known as investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson recently introduced a Bill to the Senate which aims to protect Australian laws by banning provisions which enable foreign investors to sue governments if domestic laws “harm” their investment, known as ISDS.
ABC Radio discusses the impact that trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), can have on our health - such as by leading to more expensive medicines, limiting our ability to introduce anti-tobacco measures, and restrict labelling on food.
Please join us for an entertaining evening of fine food and interesting discussion at our annual fundraising dinner with auction and raffle prizes.
All proceeds go to fund AFTINET’s trade justice work.
This recent update by AFTINET includes:
- An update on the Japan-Australia free trade agreement
- A reminder that submissions to the Bill to ban ISDS in Australia close this Friday
- A list of upcoming TPP events.
You can sign up to receive AFTINET updates here.
10/04/2014
April 8, 2014: This opinion piece by AFTINET's Convener, Dr Patricia Ranald, explains why it is so important that ISDS provisions allowing foreign investors to sue governments was not included in the Japan-Australia FTA.
Writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Martin claims that the Free Trade Agreement with Japan announced yesterday does not include the controversial investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism.
08/04/2014
Matthew Cawood writes for Fairfax country media about community concerns around Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in trade agreements, quoting AFTINET convener Dr Patricia Ranald.
08/04/2014
Japanese companies would be able to sue Australian governments under clauses expected to be included in the Australia-Japan free trade agreement, writes Peter Martin for the Sydney Morning Herald.
The article outlines concerns that controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses may be included in the agreement and features quotes by AFTINET's Convener, Dr Patricia Ranald
Some have fears about the trade agreement because of a lack of transparency, including rumours that there is a provision to allow Japanese companies more easily to sue the Australian Government, ABC Radio National PM reports.
The segment includes an interview with AFTINET's Dr Patricia Ranald.
8/04/2014