Pirate Party Australia congratulates the Greens’ successful motion in the Senate to compel the Government to make the final text of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) public prior to it being signed[1].
“Having this far-reaching agreement finally made available for public scrutiny will be an enormous win for transparency and democracy in Australia,” commented Brendan Molloy, Councillor of Pirate Party Australia. “Leaks of draft text from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement indicate substantial implications for intellectual property and investment, but it has so far been impossible to determine the extent of the Agreement and whether or not it will require changes to domestic law.”
The Party remains, however, critical of the contemporary practice of excluding the public from the treaty negotiation process, as has been seen during the negotiations of the TPP, Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The Department of Foreign Affairs and its counterparts in negotiating countries have actively prevented proper discourse with the public, failed to negotiate transparently, attempted to stifle media scrutiny[2] and provided inadequate public consultation both here and abroad.
“Major agreements that are binding on the nations involved are not being made public until after the Government has made up its mind,” Mr Molloy continued. “The Government should not consider locking us into international obligations unless it has done a thorough consultation which must include making the text public prior to signing in future.”
“The Government should also refuse to negotiate any international agreement unless all parties agree to adhere to transparent negotiation processes — including informing their citizens and accepting comments from the public. A successful push for greater transparency around the TPP will not be the end of this issue: we and other concerned organisations intend to continue campaigning until all agreements are negotiated democratically with public scrutiny.”
Pirate Party Australia eagerly awaits the response of the Government to the Senate Order.
[1] http://peter-whish-wilson.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/greens-win-greater-transparency-secret-trade-deal
[2] https://pirateparty.org.au/2013/10/29/unfriended-and-blocked-dfat-bars-journalists-from-attending-tpp-briefing/
Wow common sense prevailing, It doesn’t happen very often in the political world. But every now and then we get a tiny glimpse of how a government should behave, with the people’s interest at heart, not those of the corporate world or a foreign super power