Singapore - Australia FTA

Clive Palmer uses Singapore free trade agreement to revive ISDS claim against Australia

Monday, October 31, 2022: Australian mining magnate and political player Clive Palmer has used his Singapore company, Zeph Investments, to notify the Australian government on October 20, 2022, of its intention to seek compensation over a legal dispute with the WA government  about its proposed Balmoral South iron ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Google could use ISDS to sue Australia for millions over regulation for payment of news content

February 8, 2021: A Senate Inquiry heard last week that Google’s Singapore subsidiary could allow it to use a controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision in the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement to demand millions in compensation over proposed Australian regulation for payment of news content.

Clive Palmer’s claims to be a Singaporean company and sue the Commonwealth expose the absurdity of ISDS

December 18, 2020: The Guardian reports that Clive Palmer’s Singapore-based company, established only in 2019, has acted on his threat to sue the Commonwealth Government for billions of dollars using the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (SDS) clauses in the Singapore-Australia free trade agreement.

AFTINET's submission to the JSCOT review of the Singapore Digital Economy agreement

September 18, 2020: AFTINET's submission to the JSCOT review of the Singapore Digital Economy agreement is here. The submission notes that this is the most deregulatory agreement on digital trade the Australia has signed, and it is not clear that the exceptions preserve enough regulatory space to protect consumers and the public interest in a rapidly changing digital environment.  

Palmer threatens to use foreign investor rights to sue the Australian government after moving assets to Singapore

August 26, 2020: The Melbourne Age has reported that Clive Palmer’s Singapore-based company, established in 2019, could use foreign investor rights in the Singapore-Australia free trade agreement to claim billions in compensation because the WA government passed legislation terminating a legal dispute over an iron ore project, which had been running since 2012.

EU Court decision that US does not meet data privacy standards could challenge data deregulation through trade deals

July 20, 2020: The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on July 16 that EU data agencies must suspend data transfers to any country where the EU standards for data privacy cannot be met. It ruled that one particular arrangement, the US Privacy Shield, failed to meet the standards, and this has a direct impact on Facebook.

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