STOP MAI |
Authorised
by the STOP-MAI Campaign Coalition (WA) Affiliated
with the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
(AFTInet) |
| STOP MAI |
Authorised
by the STOP-MAI Campaign Coalition (WA) Affiliated
with the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network
(AFTInet) |
Investment ‘vampires’ shrink from daylight
''They are dead. They work in a system of death. They live in castles, they're very rich. They have long teeth, and they feed on other people's blood. But vampires have one fatal weakness: if you hold them up to the light and they are exposed to the sun, they shrivel up and die.'' So speaks US author, analyst and anti-MAI activist Susan George, about the "vampire-like global market system."
In Australia, continuing reluctance of governments and commercial news media to inform the public about the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) is a concern, but not crucial to the Stop MAI campaign, says WA spokesperson Jean Jenkins.
"The controversial treaty returns to the negotiating table in Paris on October 19. It has now been widely exposed as a bill of rights for multinational corporations and is steadily seeing the light of day through public meetings, the internet and grassroot communications," Jean Jenkins said.
The effect is further advanced world-wide. The US Congress and other parliaments have strongly criticised the MAI. Germany wants it drastically scaled down.
The US Government, whose own negotiators have been pushing hard for the treaty, has lodged an exemption for all non-conforming US local and state government laws. It has also applied to exempt all future US State and local government subsidies and procurement programmes from MAI provisions.
The European Parliament voted in March this year by 437 to 8 to adopt a long resolution critical of the MAI. As well as putting forward 37 recommendations, the resolution explicitly "Calls on the parliaments and governments of the Member States not to accept the MAI as it stands." (Full text: See section 8 on following website:)
< http://wwwdb.europarl.eu.int/dg7/calendrier/data/pv_adopt/en/980311EN.htm >
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PHONE CONTACTS: Brian Jenkins +61 8 9528 1864; Dion Giles 0411 745 538