The Australian Greens spokesperson for Trade, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said that this weekend’s meeting of Trade Ministers for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement is being carried out in total secrecy.
Senator Whish-Wilson said, “Bureaucrats and Ministers are meeting in Canberra and Sydney over the next week, in secret, to trade away the National Interest.
“The TPP agreement is an assault on Australian laws and Australian sovereignty in the name of multi-national corporations.
“The only way we have any understanding of what our Government has traded away comes from leaked texts of the TPP agreement that have been published by Wikileaks.
“It is apparent that Australia is facing more expensive new medicines, the criminalisation of copyright infringements, and giving multi-national corporations the right to sue state and federal governments for simply making laws in the public interest that might impinge on their profits.
“Last night in Senate Estimates DFAT refused to answer even the most basic questions about what we’re trading away. DFAT should be more accountable to the parliament and the Australian public.
“They refused to rule out that new medicines under development, such as cancer drugs and vaccines, would become more expensive in the future as a result of the TPP. The United States is looking to use the TPP to give special protections to “Big Pharma” to give long-term market and data exclusivity over new developments, meaning that these drugs remain more expensive for longer.
“They also refused to rule out the possibility that current medicines would take longer to become generics. The United States is seeking to use the TPP to extend the patent provisions over medicines, which would increase the costs to consumers and the tax payer.
“It’s time for the Government to be upfront with the Australian people about what is at stake with these TPP negotiations,” Senator Whish-Wilson concluded.
