STOP MAI

MEDIA RELEASE -for immediate release, 20 October, 1998 Authorised by the STOP-MAI Campaign Coalition (WA) Website http://members.iinet.net.au/~jenks/fair.html Affiliated with the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTInet) and with the World Social Forum (WSF)

Howard should abandon unpopular MAI treaty

The Stop MAI campaign coalition has condemned the Australian Government for continuing to participate in the OECD negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which resume today in Paris.

Spokesperson Jean Jenkins pointed to the May report of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties which had recommended that the Government should conduct a thorough assessment of the MAI’s implications for Australia.

"Five months later there is no assessment, yet the Government continues to negotiate.

"Last week, French Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, said he did not want a treaty that only protected private interests, and withdrew the host nation from further talks on the MAI. The Australian Government should have done the same," Jean Jenkins said.

On Monday (19/10), Stop MAI campaigners forwarded to Mr Howard and the OECD a letter of objection endorsed by 140 Australian organisations and over 470 prominent citizens in all States.

The letter calls on the Australian Government and the MAI Negotiating Group to suspend negotiations pending ‘an independent and comprehensive assessment of the MAI’s social, environmental and developmental impact, with full public participation’.

"Mr Howard needs to acknowledge that this is not a narrow political gripe but a profound anxiety shared by mainstream Australians in all churches, unions, universities, local government and many business people," Jean Jenkins concluded.

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Background Statement, supplementary to Stop MAI media release, 20 October, 1998.

Prepared by the Australian Stop MAI Campaign Coalition

Today (20/10/98), Australian Government representatives are in Paris negotiating the OECD’s latest proposals on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI). Prospects are not good for this mercenary treaty which has attracted world-wide popular opposition. The host nation, France, has withdrawn from negotiations and there are signs that others may now do so.

French prime minister Lionel Jospin told parliament the current draft treaty threatened national sovereignty and could not serve as the basis for an agreement. He added that France was still committed to free trade and investment.

"But I think, in light of recent turmoil -- the hasty and sometimes unreasonable movements that have gripped markets -- it does not seem wise to us to see, to an excessive degree, private interests encroaching on the state's sphere of influence.

"It is one thing to delegate sovereignty within the framework of our own community. . . in a process controlled by governments. . . it is another thing to concede sovereignty to private interests under the pretext of a discussion of a code on international investment,'' M. Jospin said. [Reuters]

The MAI has come under heavy fire from environmental groups and other countries which maintain it is weak on cultural, environmental and labour protection.

The MAI has been condemned in Australia and internationally as it gives unacceptable new powers and freedoms to international investors. OECD negotiators say they are increasing ‘certainty’ for investors. Opponents argue this means increased financial turmoil and uncertainty for the rest of us.

Since January this year, when the OECD finally released a draft copy of the Treaty, there has been firm opposition to the proposals. Anti-MAI alliances have emerged across the OECD’s 29 countries, spanning churches, social welfare groups, trade unions, environmentalists, women’s organisations and indigenous groups. Parliamentary inquiries have been held, demonstrating the negative impacts of the proposed treaty. The European Parliament - Europe’s democratic voice - has voted against the proposals, a majority of 437 to 8 calling for ‘the parliaments and governments of the Member States not to accept the MAI as it stands’.

At the OECD’s last ministerial meeting, in April, members were due to sign the treaty. But they declined. Instead, they announced a publicity offensive to win people over. But opposition has remained as strong as ever. The six-month ‘consultation’ period has been a miserable failure, culminating in last week’s withdrawal of Jospin’s negotiators.

In Australia there has been continuing opposition. An all-party joint-House parliamentary committee has been holding a federal inquiry in Canberra. So far it has published submissions from 800 organisations and individuals, with over ninety-five per cent condemning the Treaty in its current form. These include many prominent community advocates: the Australian Council of Social Services; the Australian Council of Trade Unions; the Uniting Church; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission; Amnesty International; the Australian Local Government Association; and Community Aid Abroad.

In May 1998 the Joint Standing Committee made an interim recommendation that Australia not sign the MAI 'unless and until a thorough assessment has been made of the national interest and a decision is made that it is in Australia's interest to do so'. Five months later no such assessment has been made, yet the Government remains at the negotiating table.

The Australian government should respond to widespread community concern and abandon the MAI negotiations. The MAI is a charter of rights for international investors, allowing them to sue governments that step out of line. Recent financial turmoil has demonstrated the urgent need for controls on transnational corporations and financial speculators - not for more freedoms. The public interest requires a treaty that regulates and restrains investors, not the powers of governments.

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PHONE CONTACTS: Brian Jenkins +61 8 9528 1864; Dion Giles 0411 745 538