Australia's future as a trading nation is the subject of intense discussion. The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an agreement being hammered out between Australia and our 11 trading neighbours including America, Canada, Japan, Chile, Mexico, Malaysia and Vietnam. But not including China or India.
How do we know about it? Certainly not through the trust of our government, which keeps the details under heavy security - as did the previous Labor government - so any information we have is thanks to WikiLeaks.
Detractors have stormed over one of the chapters that we have seen, on intellectual property. Howls of protest have been heard from music and movie lovers at the planned tightening of copyright laws and the cutting of online piracy.
I would regard separating freedom from theft as a primary task.
Of more concern are the moves which could see Australia paying more for drugs, medicine, and health care. We are used to our PBS and generic drugs, they have made our good health affordable.
We can also expect to see Australia's already-low tariff walls descend even further on items like machines, cars and technology.
But the question will inevitable arise: will Americans free up their agriculture markets, or the Japanese permit Australian rice?
Even behind curtains, our negotiators are being scrutinised very closely and will have to justify any concessions they make to a suspicious public.
If there is anyone with a broad-ranging view of this country's economic future, it's Phil Ruthven, the chairman of Ibisworld market researchers. How did he view the TPP?
To my surprise, he was not very concerned about it. "Any treaty is always healthy," he said, "But our trade and tourism relationships are in the Asian region, not the Pacific. 80 per cent of our trade is now focussed on Asia. Two thirds of our tourists are coming from Asia.
"We're one of the fastest growing countries, mainly from immigrants, and two-thirds of those are from Asia. Any treaty with Asia is probably more valuable to us than America. In reality our future is Asian rather than Pacific orientated."
All of which makes you wonder at the treaty being so drawn-out. Are we sure we are sitting on the right side of the fence? China already has its treaty, signed last month, and India is not too far away, we are told.
Once he warmed to his theme, Phil of course was a trove of information and statistics.
"By 2016 China will be bigger than America, economically. But they won't become a power so quickly." Which leave us in between two giants.
So he advises that while we make our new accommodation with China and India, we must never neglect to stay close friends with America.
Does that mean paying more for software? "I think you'll find IP is one of the most valuable assets they have got. Look at the expense of developing drugs. I would have some sympathy for them wanting to be paid for that."
However, we still expect our negotiators to be tough nuts - and we have WikiLeaks to spy on them for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment