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Sharan Burrow, ACTU President, speech to 'Don't be Bushwacked'Comrades and Friends, this is a critical moment in our history and I congratulate the Sydney Peace & Justice Coalition for organising today. On the eve of George Bush's visit, what can you say? Why are we not surprised that George and John are mates, why are we not surprised that they share common values? Why would American people and Australian people not share the heartache of watching their societies become more and more unequal, while these two boys govern the worlds that we inhabit? All I can say is that you've got to accept that John and Gorge's friendship is dangerous for Australians. There is no question in my mind that if this is the friendship that led us into a war in Iraq based on lies, if this is the friendship that continues to render invisible the plight of the Afghani people, who having been devastated by war don't have the resources for reconstruction, or the protection particularly for women as the tribal warlords are up to their old tricks. If this is the friendship that continues to deny the oppression of the Palestinian people, if we fail to look at what we can do with aid as well as trade - fair trade not free trade - then this is not a friendship that we readily endorse. But if it is a friendship that also continues to undermine the authority of the United Nations, the global governance structure that we support, then it is a friendship that is potentially dangerous indeed! What's next, you'd say, haven't you done enough, John and George? Well, we are about to find out a little bit more about what this friendship can deliver us. We are talking about a US-Australia Free Trade Agreement, a free trade agreement that's actually being negotiated in secret by our bureaucrats in Canberra. Why is it that in a democracy we all can't understand what it is that this Free Trade Agreement is going to contain? Why is it that we can't even have the rights they have in the USA to a parliamentary debate before this Free Trade Agreement is endorsed? Why not, indeed? There is a lot of unnecessary haste about trading away a lot of potential advantages that Australia holds. Why do we have to trade away our future without a debate? Why is it that we are fearful not only about our jobs but also our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, our audio-visual services, our local content rules for television and film, and not just the current content but also the right to regulate to make sure that our cultural future is assured? We don't know what technology is going to bring us next, so why would we simply be happy with the status quo? Then of course there are our public services - safe today they say, not up for trade, they say. Then why is it that under the NAFTA Agreement, between the USA, Canada and Mexico, the US is challenging the Canadian government-owned postal service as an impediment to trade? How is it that when these things are being decided in secret, that we shouldn't be concerned that our public services won't become 'barriers to trade' - our health systems, our education systems, already badly underfunded in both nations? Our postal services, our telecommunications services, such as we have control over them now - all of these things may or may not be protected in this agreement, but we don't know. Why? Because it is a secret agreement. You can go on - quarantine laws, can we have a free debate about genetically modified food? What does all this mean in the context of our future? We say to John Howard: we don't want a bonsai or little Bush for a Prime Minister, we actually want someone who is going to look after the nation's interest, someone who is going to have the courage to stand up and debate with us the benefits or disadvantages of a Free Trade Agreement. We are not opposed to trade. Trade and investment is about jobs for our people, it is about our future, but we are opposed to corporate globalisation, and free trade that is in the interests of the big corporates and the rich nations. We want a fair go. What we want at its heart though, is our own freedom and democracy. That si the right to know what we are trading, what it means for our future, and above all, some respect for the parliamentary process, where we can at least attempt to hold our politicians accountable. It is a tough job, but that's why they are there. So democracy first, John Howard, not your friendship with George Bush. Peace for the people of the world, the capacity to actually share some of our riches to help the less fortunate, and a world that's designed where trade actually generates a more equal society for all of the peoples of all of the nations, not a trade-based arrangement where we see the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, which is exactly what's happening in our nation, and indeed, throughout the world. That's why we talk about trade with labour standards, where everybody's rights are protected. That's why we talk about trade with human rights respected, why we talk about trade with the environment protected. That's the basis of the world we want to see, not a free trade world that is in the interest of the big corporates. We saw just what happened when the developing nations stood up to the big blocs of the EU and the USA in Cancun. The big boys didn't know what to do, and now they are blaming the developing countries - for what? For saying we are here, we haven't done well from your corporate globalisation, we want a fair say, we want you to listen to us, we want to be able to trade with you. Seems to me that they are a fair set of claims. Well, John Howard and George Bush, I have to say to you that if your friendship is going to govern our world, we're not interested. We're certainly not interested, John Howard, in your giving George Bush a Christmas present, or him giving you a Christmas present that might result in a loss of jobs, services and cultural content through a US-Australia FTA. Less haste, more democracy, and above all, keep your friendship to yourself! Don't let it intrude on our world! |
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© Walk Against the War Coalition 2003. |
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