LABOR AND WE, WILL LIVE TO REGRET AUST/US TRADE DEAL

By Ross Gittens

Heralds Economics Editor Nov/04

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*Labors bitterest memories from its wasted third term should be its failure to do its job and protect the Australian people against the appalling bad deal of US/Aust Free Trade Agreement.

None of the labor members who sat on the senate inquiry into the FTA could have been

Left in any doubt what a bad deal it is, yet they lacked the courage to stand against it, the Irony is that because the Howard Government had done such a good con job of selling the deal to Australian business, labor wasn’t game to appose it for fear of its own economic credibility, when infact Labor had little or no credibility to lose, apparently they think credibility will be gained by agreeing to these policies, like their unqualified promise if they were in power, the budget would be kept in surplus at all times.Of course some members of both major parties couldn’t care less about outcomes of FTA , as they just wanted to show alliance to the US.

There is no doubt that Australia will live to regret the FTA over time, for the modest gains

Will be greatly outweighed by losses, as high as 90%. The Americans drove such a hard bargain that John Howard should have walked away from it [it was strongly rumored that his negotiators advised him to] he pressed on.

This action is an indictment of John Howard as a great economic manager in putting his own short-term political gains, at the expense of Australia’s long-term economic welfare.

John Howard stated that the FTA would effect huge gains to Australia, purporting earnings of $6 Billion annually and creating 30,000 plus jobs over the next 10 years.

Many of academics including Professor Ross Garnuat [Aust National University] said

That these statements failed to pass ‘the laugh test’ in other words you couldn’t read his

Statement of the advantages of the FTA without laughing.

But if you cant see why the deal is so bad then its because the focus has been on the traditional aspects of the deal, the failing is to see its really a deal about something that most people don’t understand and know little about IP or American Intellectual property

Rights. This is why their last minute bargaining and stand over tactics before signing off

On the deal. As for the traditional stuff, the gains are still small, with hidden

High costs.

The US are trying to get us to harmonize our I P Law with theirs, which may have been OK if their IP Laws were any good, however the economically corrupt US Congress has allowed its IP Laws to be debauched by the Big Corporations, so much so they have lost sight of the public interest justification for protection of their I P.Thus protection of public and individual rights of innovation /creation and design from Multi-national corporations to generate more profits, and in turn ripping off other companies. This realization hasn’t dawned on the majority of our business people.

The supposed gains we achieved with supply of our agricultural sector products

Along, with Beef are to be gradually phased-in over 18year period. Where-as US Imports

To Aust will be effective as of 1st Jan/05.

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The Howard governments repeated insistence that it has given nothing away, if that were true why is it that the U S are telling their business people what a great deal they have done with Aust with the FTA as an excellent template they have established for future

Deals with other countries.

The P B S [Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme] will end up costing Australian families big time, as the US pharmaceutical corporations control supply and price.

Media Ownership and Rules under FTA, we would not be able to increase the Australian

Content, as the government has agreed not to increase local content on any new media that tender in the future.

The US has reduced their tariffs on Manufactured Goods by 2%to3% under the FTA

While Aust is eliminating its general tariff of 5%.

The further you read into the FTA and Australia, s Future the more the realization of how much we have been pushed around by the US and its greedy Corporations.