SumOfUs has launched an online petition about the El Salvador vs. Pacific Rim/OceanaGold case, where a gold mining company is suing the country because they were not granted a mining license that would threaten the supply of drinking water.
Show your support for El Salvador by signing the petition
21/08/2014
This week, the Senate Committee Inquiry has been hearing submissions into the bill proposed by Senator Whish-Wilson to ban the right for foreign investors to sue governments (ISDS) from trade agreements.
Tom Faunce was interviewed on Radio National Saturday Extra programme and is very critical of these ISDS provisions.
Listen to the interview on Radio National here.
19/08/2014
Finance Sector Union, Level 2, 321 Pitt St, Sydney
The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET) presents a public seminar to discuss the impact of clauses in trade agreements which elevate investor rights above our democratic rights.
AFTINET's Convener, Dr Patricia Ranald, gave evidence to the Senate Committee for Foreign Affairs Defense & Trade on the 6th August 2014 about the dangers of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in trade agreements.
AFTINET has long been critical of the PACER-Plus negotiations involving Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations. AFTINET's Convener, Dr Patricia Ranald, is interviewed on ABC's The World TV about AFTINET's concerns around the PACER-Plus negotiations
Canadian economist and friend of AFTINET Jim Stanford writes from a Canadian perspective about the dangers of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in trade deals. Canada has been sued some 35 times, for claims totalling into the many billions of dollars, and may be the country which has been most targeted by these clauses.
Stanford writes, "the ISDS system is another potent club with which business can intimidate governments into accepting their economic and political dominance — and punish those which do not."
Devex writer Lean Alfred Santos reports on AFTINET and AID/WATCH's fears around the PACER-Plus trade negotiations in an article titled "PACER-Plus - Boon or Bane for Pacific Island States?"
31/07/2014
AFTINET is a small organisation with a tiny budget but we achieve a lot – we’ve had stories published in the mainstream media, held events and led campaigns which have resulted in more than 80,000 people signing petitions. We can’t do any of this without our members, who provide all of our funding and help spread our message.
The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for Australia to reject provisions in the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that could undermine the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and compromise the ability of governments to improve public health.
120 academic experts in trade and investment law, EU law, international law and human rights, constitutional law, private law, political economy and other fields have spoken out against planned provisions on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
This adds to the growing opposition to ISDS worldwide.
View full text and list of signatories here
22/07/2014