Tag: tppa

Pirate Party Disappointed Canada and Mexico Joining TPP Negotiations

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Pirate Party Australia is disappointed that Canada and Mexico will formally join negotiations for the flawed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) this week.

The Pirate Party has been very critical of the Agreement, particularly as there has been minimal engagement with the public – both in Australia and in the other negotiating nations – and only two draft chapters have been leaked.

“From these leaks, it is evident that at least some TPP negotiators are pushing for provisions that go beyond the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) that was rejected by the European Union earlier this year, and which is yet to be ratified in Australia,” said David W. Campbell, President of Pirate Party Australia. “While the Pirate Party movement internationally has been one of the key opponents to ACTA due to its overreaching copyright and patent enforcement provisions, what is worrying about the TPP is that it is being conducted in near absolute secrecy making it difficult for concerned groups to offer criticism. When drafting international agreements, the citizens of those nations involved have a right to consultation, which must include access to draft texts.”

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Pirate Party Cautiously Welcomes ACTA Report

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Pirate Party Australia cautiously welcomes the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties’ (JSCOT) report on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which recommends delaying ratification of the secretive Agreement until certain criteria are met[1].

The report makes many recommendations based on concerns Pirate Party Australia and others raised in submissions to JSCOT, particularly the necessity to define certain terms which have made the Agreement highly ambiguous and subject to varied interpretations. One such concern was the lack of methodology to differentiate between non-commercial and commercial rights infringements.

The Pirate Party is pleased with the report, which also draws attention to the current lack of support for the Agreement within the European Union, where five different European Parliamentary Committees have all recommended ACTA be rejected. These committees found that the Agreement was not economically or legally appropriate, nor did it conform to human rights obligations.

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Pirate Party Calls for an End to TPPA Mess

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Pirate Party Australia is disturbed by the decision of the Canadian and Mexican Governments to join in the opaque and fundamentally flawed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations. The Party yet again calls for complete transparency and inclusion of civil society in the negotiation process. If these cannot be delivered, Australia must end its participation in TPPA negotiations.

“Based on the revelations contained within the recently leaked investment chapter and the draconian measures called for in the intellectual property chapter, the entire Agreement is a power grab by large corporations. They are taking advantage of the secrecy surrounding the negotiations to undermine democratic and legal principles that have taken centuries to establish,” said Simon Frew, Deputy President of Pirate Party Australia.

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Pirate Party Furious Over Roxon Secrecy Bill

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Pirate Party Australia are furious at the Attorney-General Nicola Roxon, who has recently announced plans for legislation that would make the spending of public money by parliamentarians totally exempt from Freedom of Information applications.

In a move that would further remove politicians and government departments from any form of accountability, is considering a bill that would deny access to the expenditure of MPs. 

This comes after the disclosure of Speaker Peter Slipper’s expenditure under the Freedom of Information Act[1]. The Attorney-General announced that the Government considered the disclosure of Slipper’s expenses to be an “anomaly”.

“It is typical of our representatives to propose undemocratic legislation that hides their own incompetence and regular abuse of public money,” said Brendan Molloy, Party Secretary. “A Government who would limit the availability of information to the Information Commissioner is a Government with something to hide, and we won’t stand for it.”

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