1 June, 2022: The newly appointed Minister for Trade, Senator Don Farrell, and the Assistant Minister, Senator Tim Ayers, have a mandate for the reform of Australia’s secretive trade negotiation process to ensure transparency and accountability.
26 May, 2022: A frontline nurse from Liberia has launched a ‘round of applause’ for the Pharma executives at the World Economic Forum who continue to make mammoth profits by lobbying against a waiver of monopolies on COVID-19 medicines at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
May 24, 2022: US President Joe Biden yesterday launched the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), involving the US, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Others may join later.
18 May, 2022: AFTINET Convenor, Dr Patricia Ranald, has written a critical analysis in the Australian Outlook of the party policies on trade during the 2022 federal election.
May 17, 2022: In our election forum on trade justice, we introduced our scorecard on the track record of political parties on trade justice. Speakers examined how trade deals can help or hinder the next government in recovering from the COVID19 pandemic and decarbonising the economy.
16 May, 2022: After more than one year of delay, more detailed negotiations to lift patent monopolies on COVID19 medicines have begun in earnest at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
May 10, 2022: A new report published in the prestigious journal Science has raised the alarm on how corporate rights to sue governments through trade deals could threaten climate action, and cost taxpayers billions.
May 9, 2022: AFTINET has joined with public health, human rights, and labour rights campaigners to call on Trade Minister Dan Tehan to oppose the recent draft proposal at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) TRIPS Council meeting on May 6.
5 May, 2022: The WTO Director General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has announced that she will share a previously leaked proposal for a limited waiver on COVID19 vaccine monopolies with the wider WTO membership, despite an absence of agreement between key countries.
As a voter, you deserve to know about the impacts of Australia’s secretive trade deals on your community. But previous governments have tried to hide the true cost of trade agreements from you and the parliament.