Some international trade agreements allow foreign investors to sue governments if a change in law or policy reduces their profits, even if the change protects public health or the environment. The process, known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, enables foreign investors to bypass national courts and sue governments for billions of dollars in secretive international tribunals. Labor’s policy is to exclude ISDS from future trade agreements and review it in existing agreements, partly inspired by its experience of being sued by the Philip Morris Tobacco Company over its 2012 plain packaging law.
The removal of ISDS from agreements has become more urgent because Australian billionaire Clive Palmer registered his mining company in Singapore, has claimed to be a Singaporean investor and sued the Australian government in four separate claims for a total of $420 billlion. The first claim was for $300 billion after he lost a High Court appeal against a Western Australian government decision to refuse an iron ore mining license. The tribunal in this first case found that Palmer was not a Singaporean investor. He then lost a technical challenge to this decision but he is continuing to claim $120 billion for the three other cases.
These ongoing claims for $120 billion are because a Queensland Court refused his coal mining license and a license for a coal-fired power plant for environmental reasons, including increased carbon emissions.
Palmer’s coal cases are just one example of a growing global list of ISDS cases from fossil fuel companies against government decisions to reduce carbon emissions, and Australia could face more cases from fossil fuel companies. A recent United Nations Report concluded that ISDS is a “major obstacle” to the urgent actions needed to address the climate crisis.
Our petition asks the Trade Minister to implement Labor policy to exclude ISDS from future trade agreements and speed up its review of existing agreements. You can donate to the campaign here.
Sign the Petition to the Trade Minister
Stop more ISDS claims like Clive Palmer’s suing Australia for hundreds of billions
Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is a mechanism in some trade agreements that enables foreign investors to sue governments over policy changes they allege could affect their profits in secretive international tribunals. ISDS has been used by investors like Clive Palmer to claim billions from the Australian governments because of their climate policies. The government must act to prevent further such cases.
We ask you to:
- Maintain your policy of excluding ISDS in current negotiations and future trade and investment agreements.
- Expedite the review of ISDS provisions in current bilateral agreements
- Implement your policy of review and removal of ISDS provisions from regional trade agreements, or failing that, negotiate side letters excluding the application of ISDS to Australia, as Australia has done with New Zealand and the UK in some regional agreements.
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Work with other governments to support coordinated withdrawals from ISDS arrangements.