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.
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.
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
On March 5th, Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson introduced the Trade and Foreign Investment (Protecting the Public Interest) Act 2014 into the Senate. 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 ISDS.
Fair Deal or No Deal
in the Trans-Pacific partnership (TPP)!
Public Meeting at the Multi Purpose Centre
123 Flora St, Sutherland
6.30pm for 7pm start, Tuesday 29 April 2014
Speakers to be followed by Q&A
Jemma Williams, Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
Isabel McIntosh, Lock the Gate Alliance
Michael Whaites, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association
Tea / Coffee available. Reduce waste. Please BYO mug
AFTINET organised TPP action at the nationwide March in March, held around the country on the 25-16th of March
Jon Edwards from from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) writes in The Drum about why we should be concerned about any increase in patents on medicines in the TPP negotiations. Read the article here