ISDS Action Group Flyer

A public performance illuminating the corporate slavery effect of the TPP and CHaFTA 14/8/15

Here is a copy of the information we used on the flyer for the 14/8 performance action in Fremantle, Western Australia: You can download a flyer of the PDF called 'She Won't Be Right Mate' - Here!

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Implied Consent means if you don’t actively oppose something the government takes this as your consent. We assume the government works for us – sure, things aren’t always easy - but now government interests are becoming detached from the people’s interests.

How does this happen? Well, lobbyists (corporate advisors) approach politicians to pass laws that favour industries they represent. The ISDS (Investor State Dispute Settlement) is a private international tribunal that when included in a trade agreement between countries gives big-business the right to sue a government for any law, regulation or court ruling that infringes on their profits.

There are ISDS provisions in CHAFTA (Chinese-Australian Free Trade Agreement).  Under CHAFTA, Chinese corporations in projects worth over $1.5 billion can import Chinese labour for their projects. They can pay these workers Chinese wages, potentially undermining Australian wages and work conditions.

CHAFTA was negotiated behind closed doors and signed on June 17th with no public consultation. It has yet to go through parliament. We can still stop it, if we make our voices heard to MPs NOW!

The TPP (Trans-Pacific-Partnership) is called a ‘free trade agreement’,  but it is really an Investor's Rights Agreement between Australia, USA and 10 other countries. International ministers and 605 unnamed corporate advisors have been secretly negotiating this deal for over five years. The public has only seen leaked documents. If signed it will effectively give corporations the right to sue us for laws which protect our rights, our environment, and our lives as families and individuals. Major protests around the world are in progress to stop this blatant corporate power-grab.

Poorer developing countries eager for international trade who have signed similar agreements are now facing $billion corporate law suits, rivalling their GDP. Globally there are over 500 ISDS law suits in progress! Locally, Australia is being sued for potential lost profits from plain cigarette packaging by Philip Morris under an ISDS clause in the 1993 Hong Kong trade agreement. - If Australia wins, we will still have to pay the legal fees.  So far this is over $50 million. That's your tax money gone! We already have ISDS provisions in trade agreements with other small countries but not with the big guns - China and USA - these countries are home to the world's largest corporations.

Our inaction is taken as consent to the TPP and CHAFTA. Your way of life WILL be affected. PLEASE ACT NOW.

For more information please visit:
australianunions.org.au/china_fta - Send a letter to your MP to stop CHAFTA now
fb.com/australiansAgainstChAFTA
TPPaustralia.org -- fb.com/groups/STOPTPPAustralia/
isdscorporateattacks.org

Brought to you by ISDS Action Group - whytpp.blogspot.com

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ISDS Action Group Press Release - August 14th Performance

This is an action we did to illuminate the dangers of the TPP and CHaFTA. Melissa Parke, Labor MP for Fremantle was there and chained and we walked the streets of Fremantle, up and down the world famous cappucino strip and out to King's Square. Thanks to all that came what a great day! The action represents the corporate slavery that would be enacted by signing the TPP and allowing CHaFTA through parliament with ISDS provisions allowing multi-national corporations to sue sovereign governments for laws that infringe on profits.

Let us stand together!

The following is the press release:

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A local activist group, the ISDS Action Group, has organised a performance protest in response to trade provisions that would dramatically increase corporate powers.

The provisions are part of closed negotiations being conducted by the Federal Government in relation to the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). An ISDS clause already features in the Australian Government's trade agreement with China (CHAFTA), signed by Andrew Robb without public consultation in June 2015, due to be processed through parliament.

The protest--a march--will take place from 12pm, Friday 14 August, departing from Culleys in Fremantle's High Street Mall and end at Shanghai Food Court via Market Street.

Participants can be chained to or walk beside a chariot that symbolises the ISDS and the trade deals to which the public are not party are questioned by the public to be made in the people's interests.

In a quirky twist, as well as awareness, the ISDS Action Group may also be in a position to break a world record--for the most people chained together in a protest performance.

For further reading stipulating the dangers ISDS and TPP represent for Australia:http://peter-whish-wilson.greensmps.org.au/campaigns/tpp

#freethetpp #stopthetpp #stoptpp #exposetpp #exposethetpp #isds #chafta #stopchafta #nafta #tpp #tppaustralia #whytpp #tppfremantle #performanceprotest #performanceart

A video of the action can be seen here:

The Fremantle Herald article 14-8-15 (Click to make larger)

Photos and videos by Michele Kwok unless otherwise stated

The flyer we developed for handing out at the protest - download a PDF here!

**Edit - More Photos from Marta Pascual (thanks Marta!)

"Good boy! Put your chains on!"

How will the TPP affect small businesses and local industry?

In order to understand the effect of a trade agreement like the Trans-Pacific-Partnership we must understand another trade agreement that was signed within the last month (17/6/) by Trade Minister Andrew Robb - The China Free Trade Agreement. This agreement (CHAFTA) still requires parliament approval to be finalized (we can still stop this - go here - http://australianunions.org.au/china_fta)

What has this 'free trade' agreement that is said to cause the 'creation of jobs and industry opportunities for Australia' actually doing?

Let's analyze this for a minute...

We have small businesses and local industry in Australia and things are going OK. They are generally struggling but people can get by and expansion is possible for those who push ahead. Well, what happens after a trade deal like the one with China is put through?

Chinese labourers in Chinese mines, with chinese trucks, in chinese trains, on chinese land to chinese ports to be taken away to china for chinese profits under chinese labour standards and paid a chinese wage.

Where does Australia fit into the picture?

It doesn't. No Australian benefits from this deal.

Now let's look at the TPP.

It also contains the international court settlement dispute clauses to protect corporations from laws of a sovereign country that cause loss of profits. The Australian market will be flooded with more cheap goods and services disregarding Australian quality control and Australian regulations. Local business won't be able to keep up with the new trend. People will go out of business and  'free market capitalism' will have another nail hammered into its coffin. The 'trickle down effect' does not trickle down on its own. Laws and regulations must be put in place to respect small and local business or capitalism as we know it cannot be sustained because too much wealth becomes concentrated in big business and big business makes all the rules for business.

So the only way capitalism can continue is by maintaining an even playing field for small and local businesses. If big corporates are given rights to step on everyone else we no longer have capitalism.

Some say this is a transition into a 'better, different world' - which fantasy are you living in? Have you noticed how many people the technological revolution has actually benefited? Not the you and me of the middle to lower classes. We have longer working hours and as inflation rises due to the inability to produce our own goods, due the market being flooded with too much commodity from overseas we will not be living our comfortable Australian lives like we are used to. We currently live in the shadow of all the wealth, having not created the wealth ourselves and that shadow is moving. As local businesses sell off, corporate take-overs of small industries will become common place.

See this article on '4 Reasons Why The Future Of Capitalism Is Homegrown, Small Scale, And Independent' - http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665567/4-reasons-why-the-future-of-capitalism-is-homegrown-small-scale-and-independent
Things are going to change and change quickly under the TPP. Let's understand this is not good for us, only for those that happen to be at the very top of this pyramid economy. They also happen to be the ones in control of what is said on TV and in Newspapers while little undiluted public opinion gets through.

There are only so many pieces in a pie

Imagine a pie. How many pieces would we have? Let's cut it into ten pieces. Ok, we give away 5 of those pieces to different parties and we have five left - now let's cut the remaining five into 10. We give away some of those pieces and we are left with what we need to survive upon. Now imagine this pie is Australia and that each time we sign a trade agreement with ISDS provisions we effectively give away that part of the pie for good. These deals are near-on irreversible once signed. It is easier to make the right decision now instead of having to face the consequences of bad decisions for Australian business later. We only have so much industry, resources and purchasing power in Australia, if we promise so much to other countries, we only have so much left for ourselves. It is common for developing countries to sign international trade deals with ISDS provisions becausee they want the 'freedom' of 'free trade' but in more cases than one, this has proven to be their downfall.

Australia has so much and we can be smart with what we have now, instead of dealing optimistically with bad consequences later. We are comfortable as we are now but our way of life is under threat by predator capitalism negotiated by corporate advisors in trade deals that include ISDS provisions. If we allow others into our markets the size and competitiveness of the bits Australian businesses will be able to access will be greatly reduced.

Welcome to the 'Brave New World' and '1984' 31 years late!

Then there are the 605 unnamed companies driving the TPP. Other countries participating will certainly intend to have more out of the agreement than they intend to give, else why fight so hard, and in secret, to have the agreement in the first place. The same goes for those 605 companies - and the lawsuit we are seeing from Philip Morris against Australia using an ISDS provision presages what is forthcoming when our laws on food safety, product safety, pharmaceutical copyright period are perceived counter to that of corporate profitability.

THEN our country will be governed by the economic aims and profitability of the signatory countries and corporations instead of by our duly elected representatives. 

Government relies on our ignorance of these trade deals and our inaction which gives them our implied consent. Implied consent means that if you do not actively dissent, it is assumed by being passive, you consent.

We need to work together to make a stop to this corporate control of government and take control of our government as a commonwealth for the people.

Act or be acted on. These are your options.

The security of your family is threatened by the TPP

Rights that we take for granted in Australia are threatened under the TPP

So what has a boring acronym called the TPP got to do with the security of our growing families here in Australia?

Well, the world of corporate trade affects many parts of our growing families lives especially in an age of constantly expanding technology. While the government is releasing spun rhetoric in order to stop people from taking action against the TPP, it is important we stop and consider for ourselves the practical implications such a world-contract will have on our individual lives. Prices on some medications will rise 3 to 5 times their current price. We must take what the government says in the understanding that it only says what it says to protect its member's interests and as the Trans-Pacific-Partnership affects almost every industry in Australia and 40 percent of the world's economy; trade minister Andrew Robb as the government is abusing his ability to represent the Australian public. The word Minister means Servant - let's enforce his 'service'. Here are some key issues to be aware of:

The rise in the cost of pharmaceuticals. While the Australian government has released an official statement to say this is not the case - critics speak otherwise. Patents on an original drug will be made longer which means generic brands that reproduce crucial medications at a fraction of the cost will be unable to sell their product until these patents expire. Prices on some medications may rise 3 - 5 times. This has been included in the TPP because lobbyists from major pharmaceutical companies have paid millions of dollars to international government officials in order to ensure their private interests above that of the Australian public.

What information will be left to access freely under new intellectual property laws in the TPP?

Historical archives will be withdrawn from the public domain due to longer copyright restrictions on informations apparently 'owned' by big US conglomerates. We may be forced to pay for information that is otherwise made freely available on the internet. This will affect our culture in a big way because it restricts what information we are allowed to share publicly which puts a bulwark in our ability to communicate using ideas and texts from the past which in turn give us the ability to generate new ideas and create a better future for all more effectively. In addition some informations may simply be withheld for no good reason, as under intellectual property law it is the copyright holders right to do so. In an age of increasing communication and community oriented living this is a step back into the dark ages.

Under the TPP which corporate will be watching your every click?

Under the TPP corporations may be given rights to trawl meta-data (internet browsing history) of anyone with unlawfully obtained software of media in order to delve out massive fines and possibly prison sentences. Legislation for this has already been drafted in Australia and is just waiting for the right conditions to be signed in place. Information on learning about encryption (our right to protect our privacy) is actually being made unlawful in Australia (we can't even lawfully learn to protect ourselves) to work with this new legislation to enforce tougher copyright laws. With the information age and the abundance of information the corporations are pulling any trick they can to harness the communisation of information so it can be re-commodified effectively to maintain their profits. Australians may pay the price in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.

Will we have to forfeit our right to protect our children from smoking?

Plain packaging of cigarettes has been a revolution in hindering this highly addictive legal substance from being sold in Australia. Recently, due to an international court clause in a treaty with Hong Kong (similar to clauses in the TPP), Philip morris cigarette company who resituated in Hong Kong, are in the process of sueing the Australian Government for hindering their profits of selling cigarettes. If we can't stand up for our own health and wellbeing in our own laws in our own country, we have to realise the way things are going are not good and unless we stand up and say 'NO' loud enough - nothing will change. The legal bill for this case is at 50 million dollars and counting - that's your tax money, wasted because of an international court dispute, due to some pen happy minister signing an agreement in 1984. Read more here - Big Tobacco puts countries on trial as concerns over TTIP deals mount. We are not a developing country, we aren't desperate for business with big-corporates - so why are we selling people for profit?

Your rights to healthy food and safe drinking water are threatened by GMO and corporate mining interests which could be protected by ISDS clauses in the TPP. See this related article for more information.

Is your work secure in a TPP signed world?

The amount of jobs available in Australia may decrease due to the rights multi-national corporations will receive to entirely move all production and facilities off shore to countries in the TPP where it is cheaper to produce the goods. In some areas of industry, things may get cheaper but inflation will rise and the Australian dollar will fall in comparison to other currencies because we haven't the grounding of actual local production of goods. So the 'woohoo' factor of cheaper commodities in some aspects will be re-balanced by the fall of the Australian dollar. Read more about the economic effects of the TPP here in an easy to understand adult cartoon.

These are some pretty important points to consider and we must realise that unless we stand, reach out and hold onto our freedom it IS going to be taken away from us.

Time to do something about it, join an action group near you, spread awareness, print some flyers, attend a rally, go here - you, we, I can do it!

Everyone else is doing it, why not us too? The reality is that most other countries are in the same boat and the governments do not represent the interests of the people in those countries, in assuming they do we have also assumed the people themselves are in agreeance. The people most definitely are not! Here is a video of a major protest against the TPP in New Zealand, who having faced recent economic difficulties are slightly more awake as to the economic abyss the Trans-Pacific-Partnership represents.

How will the TPP affect my right to clean water and healthy non-genetically modified food?

Will we be able to tell between GMO and non-GMO under the TPP?

The Trans-Pacific-Partnership is a trade deal right? So what has it got to do with the food I eat and the water I drink?

Well, the TPP will affect almost every aspect of daily life because the corporate world is involved in almost every aspect of our lives in the goods and services we trade; including food and water. In the first world, many of us assume good clean healthy food and water as a right that will never be taken away from us but under the TPP even these bare necessities can be threatened. The ISDS (an international court) clauses in the TPP gives corporations the right to sue a sovereign government for laws that impinge on profits. This means that we may make laws to protect our right to healthy food (with proper labeling for Genetically Modified Food) and clean water (keeping coal-seam-gas mining and major mining developments in the food producing area of Australia - out) but if a corporation has already got an agreement that has given them the right to do otherwise, the government treasury (tax-payers/our money) can be opened to them to compensate for their loss of potential profits. This literally makes the people of a country the economic slaves to corporations if they choose to protect what is normally taken for granted as a given - our food and water. Sounds ludicrous and maybe even sci-fi but under the TPP this threat is very real.

Coal-seam-gas is a new type of mining that is gaining more and more popularity in the mining sector. There have been major protests globally to put a stop to coal-seam-gas mining because it disrupts the land on which it is done: It injects a toxic soup of chemicals deep into the ground where our natural aquifers are situated (ground water) to cause the wanted mineral deposit to release and then that is sucked back up leaving the toxic soup in the ground. Farmland and country properties that rely on ground water are contaminated and numerous cases where it has been done in America locals in the area have had to get trucks to transport clean water in to them because the ground water is no longer safe to use for any purpose. It literally poisons the land. See the documentary Gasland for a good introduction to coal-seam-gas mining (now also out Gasland 2). The TPP may impede our ability too stop this from happening in Australia. In many countries, CSG has been banned, including Germany - we need not wonder why. Any civil disobedience or activism could be blocked by laws introduced to police protesters because under the TPP the government wouldn't be able to foot the bill of the compensation claims to the mining corporates. There are many initiatives in Australia to stop CSG (including 'Lock the Gate') and these could be jeopardised by the TPP.

Unfortunately this is the language the government speaks in. Although democracy is kept around for simply a cosmetic purpose, money is what makes the politicians put pen to the paper of dirty deals like the TPP.

The only way things like CSG can be already in progress is because the government has already put into law rights for mining corporations to do exploration on people's property. This law was most likely negotiated by corporate lobbyists representing the mining corporations who paid the government to put it into law. This is common practice in corporate policy. This is all done without the people's consent, under the table so to speak. From now on you must understand the government is not working in your favor unless we stand together to change it. Simply electing a leader means nothing, as we all know from experience politicians lie to get into office, or they tell the truth to start but aren't yet tempted by the money-sweeteners the corporate lobbyists have to offer them individually. If we want a sustainable future for Australia, we are going to have to fight for it and have an active role in the politics of our country.

Open cut coal mine in Telford

Mining rights have recently been sold to the Shenhua Mining company from China to make a giant open cut coal mine right in 'Australia's food bowl' district in the Liverpool plains. To the average person with normal intelligence we can make the rational decision, this is NOT a good idea. But the government went and signed the paper without consulting the public (actually there has overt public action against such mines), someone got a massive cheque and Shenhua gets what they want. There WILL be civil disobedience and this will NOT proceed because there are so many passionate individuals willing to protect the land in that area. Renewable energy resources have already been proven (here and here) to far outweigh coal and oil use in industry as far as the overall cost, the effect on the environment and the safety of our livelihoods; however the mining magnates don't want to let go, because they can't put a price on the wind,the sun or the sea. To not start this mine - is a no brainer. But WTF someone went and signed the piece of paper anyway and now we have to fight for it - if the TPP goes through this will give Shenhua the rights to sue the Australian Government (out of tax payers money) for the loss of potential profits for not opening the mine should the protesters be successful in stopping it.

Unfortunately the Shenhua mine case is not uncommon and we must open our eyes to see what is going on around us. The government is not in our control. We live in an illusion of democracy and a 'chance' for freedom but unless we take control of this chance now!

GMO has not been tested for human consumption and yet it is being distributed. 

Then we have Monsanto. Monsanto is a company that makes a cancer causing herbicide called Round-up (active ingredient glyphosate) which is widely used in all areas of major cities in Australia as weed control. If laws were put in place to restrict its use or make people more aware of the dangers of this chemical herbicide/pesticide the tax-payers would have to foot the bill to compensate for the profit losses. Genetically modified food, including its invasive crops and patented seeds are a danger to local farmers and their right to earn a living, these products have been banned in various countries . The TPP poses a direct threat to Australian agriculture because test GMO crops are already being planted around Australia as we speak and there is as yet no legislation to protect us from this global profit monster Monsanto. Food labeling to know if food contains genetically modified food would be contested by Monsanto in the international court if the TPP goes ahead. GMO has not been through rigorous testing and can cause birth abnormalities, liver malfunction and cancer. We must realise that GMO has been banned in many countries already and only because the issue has not gained the publicity in Australia that it has in other countries, do we not yet have regulations to ban GMO from the Australian family kitchen.

These are serious issues and we all need to get involved because this will affect every part of our lives. 

When we talk about compensation claims we aren't talking about petty cash here, we are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars in settlements to companies that lose out because we exercise our right to make laws to stop them destroying our environment, our agriculture; and threatening our right to healthy non-genetically modified food and clean water.

Stop the TPP and get actively involved in your government to stop corruption and protect our right to these bare necessities.

But what can I do to stop the TPP?

Tradies: pillars holding up Australia

I’ve been asked this a lot “But what can I do?”

Everyone knows how dangerous the TPP is for everything from our Medicine, Internet and everyday freedoms so stopping it is something on every activists mind. We’ve done protests with no avail, our message isn’t being heard by those who are in charge of it. A large majority of the US congress – both Republics and Democrats – have voiced concerns and the Australian Senate has voiced concerns but these people are only hearing one side, the corporations side.

Haven’t heard of the TPP?

The TPP, as you may have heard, outright surrenders U.S. sovereignty to multinational corporations, handing them total global monopolies over labor practices, immigration, Big Pharma drug pricing, GMO food labeling, criminalization of garden seeds and much more. In all, the TPP hands over control of 80% of the U.S. economy to global monopolists, and the TPP is set up to enable those corporations to engage in virtually unlimited toxic chemical pollution, medical monopolization, the gutting of labor safety laws and much more.

We need people emailing, protesting in the streets outside your local congresspersons or members office.. whatever it takes. Send emails stating your concern. Not just to your local member, but in every state, in every country affected.

Find your congress representative here

Once found email them.

Australians, Andrew Robb is who you should email: Andrew.Robb.MP@aph.gov.au

AND visit here to find the details of your local member.

Together, Australians and Americans.. Can stop this from going any further than paper.

 WITHOUT A STRONG PUBLIC OUTCRY POLITICIANS ONLY HEAR WHAT THE CORPORATIONS SAY

 Don’t believe it could work?
In January a similar trade deal was struck down in Europe when politicians where faced by a large outcry by the people.
Andrew Robb, The minister who holds the details to the TPP in Australia has stated he only receives correspondence from the corporations and not from people.
Lets change that.

[the original article can be found here]

Will anything I do actually help?

We must do what we can. If a trade deal like the TPP goes through - it is going to change the quality of life for all Australiians and for most it will make it worse.

We are supposedly living in a democracy and this means that the people have a say in what policies and statutes are passed into law. When there are 'free trade agreements' like the TPP which revoke the right of the government to make its own laws to protect the environment and protect people's rights - this must be understood as an attempt by the money wielding corporate world to steal our rights - just because they lose potential profits in a world where we keep our rights. The only way the corporates and the politicians can get away with this sneaky politics is by implied consent and this means if you don't stand up for your rights, it will be assumed you have consented to having them removed.

By standing up for stopping the TPP and rallying as much public support as possible, we create the ball rolling for more people to get on board and as more people do, the government has to listen. We will not allow the TPP to go through without our voices being heard and the countries involved being told what is happening right underneath their noses.

The TPP is a secret trade deal, negotiated by corporate bureaucrats and then passed onto political officials to be signed into law, the public has no say in any step of the way unless we make that say.

And if something like this goes through and we have made as much noise as we can (letters to officials, rallies, flyer handouts and letterboxing, petitions, creative protests, see here ) - we must reassess the value of the government and realise it is meant to be representative of us. If it is not doing this, by our power, AS the government, WE remove it and put in place an equal uncorrupt system.

We either face the pain of change now, or face a future of greater pain in the long run.

Again: A government can only have our consent because it is implied - if we make it clear it is not implied and we do not consent, it is within our rights to arrest the government.

Ignorance + Inaction = Consent

The TPP is a corporate take-over of Australian Sovereignty (that is the Australian people's right to make their own laws for their own country), we need to stop this atrocity from happening and in stopping it we can learn better to take responsibility for our own laws, politics and banking system. We must all become politically active in order to make the change to a sustainable system for all. We must make measures to protect Australia from predatory-capitalism of multi-national corporations.

If we are successful, it is important to realise that this is not just a one off - once we are activated we must keep going until this profit motive government is strapped into regulations that we the people put in place. Things like the TPP will pop up again and again as long as we the people continue to take such a 'won't touch it with a long stick' approach to politics.

By our silence and inaction we consent to the surrender of our sovereignty.

HANDS OFF AUSTRALIA! WE STAND!

#freethetpp #whytpp