24 August 2016
Australian Unions are calling on Australia and New Zealand to "back off, release the text and conduct a proper assessment so we can see if this will actually help working people across the Pacific – or if it's just another corporate con." See more here.
23 August 2016
We join the South Pacific Council of Trade Unions (SPOCTU) and APHEDA in our concerns about the lack of worker representation at the inaugural Pacific Labour Mobility Annual Meeting, being held alongside the PACER-plus Ministerial meeting in Christchurch this week. Read their media release here.
12 August 2016
Pacific Island advocacy group PANG recently published their report "Defending Pacific Ways of Life: A Peoples Social Impact Assessment of PACER-Plus". Since then, PANG reports that 47 organisations, including AFTINET, have endorsed this report and demanded the release of all PACER-plus texts and for no decision to be made until a fully funded and independent social impact assessment can take place.
PANG is now calling for individuals to sign their endorsement of this report via their petition by August 19.
8 August 2016
Papua New Guinea's Trade Minister Richard Maru has told new Australian Assistant Minister for Trade Keith Pitt that PNG would not participate in the PACER-Plus deal, according to ABC news reports.
"I know the Australian Government has been actively pushing the PACER-Plus policy within the region,” Mr Maru said. “I've made it clear that PNG is not interested and that I have directed all my officers not to entertain any negotiations."
22 June 2016
A new report by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) has urged Pacific Island countries to walk away from PACER-Plus trade talks.
The report, titled ‘Defending Pacific ways of life: A People’s Social Impact Assessment of PACER-Plus,’ comprises of assessments from leading academics in Fiji, New Zealand and Australia and looks at leaked PACER-Plus text. It concludes that Australia and New Zealand are pushing their own interests at the expense of the Pacific, and recommends that Pacific island governments should retain their legal right to regulate to protect their national development interests, which include the ownership and control of land, natural resources and the environment.
18 April 2016
Completing secret negotiations on the India FTA and PACER-Plus agreement during the election period could violate the caretaker convention and would be undemocratic.
The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations - Plus (PACER-Plus) agreement between Australia, New Zealand and 12 Pacific Island countries was finalised in Brisbane in April 2017. PACER-plus negotiations began in 2009 with 14 Pacific Island countries involved in the talks. The deal was signed on June 14, 2017, but the two largest economies, Papua New Guinea and Fiji , representing 80% of the combined GDP of Pacific Island countries, did not sign. Both have said the agreement threatens their infant industries and would not benefit their economies.
PACER Plus was tabled in the Australian parliament in November 2017 and was reviewed by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties which reported on May 9, 2018. Community groups made submissions recommending against implementation, pending independent assessments of the economic, environmental , health and gender impacts of the deal in Pacific Island countries. See the AFTINET submission here and the Committee Report here. The report admitted that he absence of Fiji and PNG greatly diminished its significance, that the main benefits would flow to Australia and New Zealand and that rapid removal of tariffs and services deregulation could harm small and vulnerable Pacific Island economies.Despite these admissions, the report recommended that the implementing legislation be approved. See AFTINET analysis here..
2 March 2016
Papua New Guinea has said it is not ready to sign the Pacer Plus trade deal between Pacific Island nations, Australia and New Zealand. PNG’s statement comes after more than six years of negotiations and despite the agreement being scheduled for signing in June this year.
Adam Wolfenden from the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) speaks to ABC Radio about why PNG’s stance makes sense. Listen to the interview here
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