Here we go again. One side telling us we have the deal of a lifetime, the other telling us we are going to be screwed. What am I talking about? The FTA of course. This is so big a deal it almost knocked Warnie’s return off the front pages and relegated the mire of the conflict in Iraq to the rear of the papers. The only winners in the latest FTA, it seems, are the close friends of the Bush family, the Fanjul brothers who last year received over $US85 million dollars in US federal government "subsidies".
What is an FTA? A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is an agreement between the elites and their powerful business mandarins to ensure that, no matter where a good or service comes from, it will be supplied with the highest possible return to the manufacturer. In an attempt to legitimise it they get their political lackies to make a big show and tell over it.
Vaile, Howard, Costello et al are telling us that this agreement will be a good thing for us. I mean this was so important the "man of steel" had to have a chat to his mate "George the Lesser" in order to ensure that we got screwed, sorry I mean the best deal we could.
Being the subject of the taunts and violence of a couple of the school bullies when I was young, there are a couple of things I have learnt about the biggest "players" on the block. They never back off, they always get their way and they never see their actions as inflicting pain or suffering. The US economy is in crisis. It has been haemorrhaging cash to the tune of millions of dollars a day and billions of dollars a month - and that was before George the Chickenhawk declared war on the Middle East as only a bully would do.
If you want an example of what occurs if unbridled economic growth is facilitated by the government of the day, look towards the US and you will find a rapacious beast that is devouring communities and social services like ice-creams on a hot day. Any gardener will tell you that a healthy plant must be nurtured, pruned, fed and cared for if it is to bloom. If force-fed it becomes unhealthy, un-natural and eventually diseased. The disease of the FTA is that the bully has the pruning shears and will attempt to shape us to his desire (and I deliberately use the masculine), regardless of the long term health and viability of our society and economy. Note the terms being used regarding our sugar growers in North Queensland.
These sugar growers are being told they have to "restructure" – even though they have been relatively efficient. They are told by the government that unless there is a "shake up" the whole industry will collapse. But what we are not told is why? Why do the few remaining family farms have to be sold off to, lets say, the Fanjul brothers interests – one of the largest US sugar conglomerates. This company has a reputation for driving costs down (i.e. importing low wage workers). Ignoring environmental regulations (i.e. using high levels of fertilisers to artificially encourage plant growth) and, by hiring low cost employees and not supplying them with proper protective clothing, they flaunt health regulations. And, finally, by controlling the price structures for their product to ensure the highest possible return to their coffers and that’s before they get the government subsidy!
"Structural adjustment" within the Australian sugar industry, we are told, is paramount if we want to improve our trade prospects. All the FTA has done has lock this and the next generation into a series of deals that will see our resources stripped and shipped off shore at the lowest cost possible. Vaile, Howard and Costello have, in effect, signed away our birthright.
All this and I have not even touched on the opening up of our pristine markets to cheap animal products that may endanger our herds. Nor have I mentioned the beef and dairy barriers that, even if they are lowered in 18 years, will not assist the many families that will go out of business in the mean time. Nor have I mentioned the threats to our cultural and social service sectors. Mark my words, within the next federal government term, regardless of whether it is Liberal or Liberal lite, we will find a US style HMO health system imposed on us. Our medical costs will sky rocket, the level of health care we receive will drop even further and our highly skilled, well trained and professional hospital staff will be replaced with low waged, low trained health "attendants". In short, the so called ‘protections built into’ this FTA will protect only one thing; The steady flow of cash up the chain to the already obscenely wealthy and their business mandarins.
The FTA is a misnomer. It is not a Free Trade Agreement at all. It is a sham that reinforces the protectionist stance of the US elites, that can only drive down our living conditions and will, ultimately, cut off those of us who want to trade with the world from other potentially lucrative and beneficial trade and marketing opportunities in the future.
I’ll finish with a quote from the Washington Post, just so you know how the US elites and their business mandarins are selling the deal there. "… the US sugar industry is one of the most powerful agricultural lobbies [who have] donated $US20.2 million dollars to both political parties since 1990 …". And finally, just so we can understand why Vaile, Howard and Costello had to give in, from the Washington Post’s Editorial, this little gem. "[US chief trade negotiator] Mr. Zoellick, calculated that flawed trade deals are better than none, so he went ahead with Australia. It is true that Australian tariff cuts will boost US manufactured exports. But the Australian sugar sham sends a signal to protectionists: The Bush administration will cave in if you say "boo" to it. After the Central American pact promised the region a tiny crack of access to the US sugar market, the lobby went into high gear to prevent a repeat with Australia. Now the lobby has won. The world’s poor farmers who are waiting for a chance to export their way out of poverty will be the losers as will shoppers in your local supermarket".
A word to our so called political leaders, business mandarins and the Fanjul brothers, "boo!". When the revolution comes, your FTA’s will not protect you from the wrath of the people.