I wrote this on my Facebook wall as a response to the below mentioned petitions and whilst it may appear to be a little extreme, I stick by its sentiments.
The two faced actions of the Australian Government's (and others) regarding ISDS and the TPP can be seen in our current relationship with Indonesia. As a result of the Australian Government spying on Indonesian officials for the American Government, the Indonesian Government has accused the Ozzies of breaching their sovereignty, too which I would agree. I won't even mention the "illegal" boat people fiasco. It is OK, however, for Indonesian Corporations to sue Australia for the effects of its cigarette packaging laws; and this is not a breach of Australia's sovereignty? And now with the TPP and the the reversing of the ISDS provisions, Abbot is opening up the flood gates for further Big Corpa influence.
Hypocrisy after hypocrisy after hypocrisy...
Government is no longer "by the people and for the people" but is being manipulated by Big Corpa which in turn is motivated by profit only and has no social conscience. In the words of Chris Hedges:-
“We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.”
― Chris Hedges, The Death of the Liberal Class
Be Informed, Enquire, Act
Please read the below protests for their informative analysis of the situation and sign their petitions:-
Why this is important
This is because this new policy will give foreign corporations the right to sue the Australian Government if they believe our policies will damage their corporate interests.
This means that biotechnology corporations could sue Tasmania and South Australia over their respective moratoriums / bans on Genetically Engineered (GE) crops. New South Wales could be sued over their environmental guidelines on coal seam gas extraction and any communities choosing to enact a moratorium on coal seam gas extraction could be sued as well. Pharmaceutical companies could sue Australia over our Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS). We could also be sued if we ever wanted to ban harmful pesticides or institute stricter environmental standards in any area of our economy that might impact the interests of a foreign corporation. And that’s just to name a few…
And if you think this all sounds so totally outrageous that it couldn’t possibly happen to us here in Australia, then its well worth considering the impact of what ISDS provisions are currently doing in Canada - Quebec province had a US$250 million lawsuit launched against them after they called a moratorium on shale gas extraction (fracking) as they need time to assess the potential environmental impacts of fracking on their water supply. That’s not to mention the US$500 million case being bought against Canada under ISDS provisions by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly over patent decisions made by the Canadian Federal Courts.
In fact, here in Australia even though tobacco companies lost their case on our plain packaging laws in the Australian High Court, one tobacco company – Philip Morris – is now suing Australia in an international tribunal using an ISDS provision that Australia signed with Hong Kong back in the 1990s.
While it’s bad enough that this change of policy by Prime Minister Abbott will potentially transfer millions (or possibly even billions!) of taxpayer dollars to foreign corporations through preposterous lawsuits, this is nothing compared to the total and irreversible loss of national sovereignty this policy would bring to Australia.
If you believe that Australians should get to choose their own policies and have their basic democratic rights honoured and protected, without fear of legal retribution by foreign corporations then please sign this petition! AAVAZ
Legislation designed to address climate change, curb fossil fuel expansion and reduce air pollution could all be subject to attack by corporations as a result of TPP. Additionally, the deal could criminalize internet use, undermine workers’ and human rights, manipulate copyright laws, restrict government regulation of food labeling and adversely impact subsidized healthcare.
The movement we are building locally, nationally and globally to wind back fossil fuels and reign in a safe climate future is growing by the day and the fossil fuel industry is getting scared of the uncertainty ahead. The TPP is a symptom of this fear – a massive bid to overthrow any restrictions we might throw at them. But we can stop this. The might of our movement is greater than their money or manipulation.
Sign this petition to show our governments that we won’t stand for foreign corporations disabling our sovereignty, democratic processes or the right to a safe future. 350 Campaigns
