The Assistant Treasurer, Senator Rod Kemp, today tabled in the Senate a copy of the current draft of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and Australias schedule of preliminary reservations in relation to the proposed treaty.
The tabling of the documents is further evidence of the Governments openness in addressing issues surrounding the MAI. The release of the draft treaty and exceptions will help promote informed public debate and this is welcomed by the Government.
There have been many claims that the negotiations for the MAI have been conducted in secret. These claims are unfounded, and todays tabling of the documentation together with the recent referral of the draft treaty to the parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Treaties demonstrate beyond dispute the Governments commitment to proper public and parliamentary consultation.
The Governments position on the MAI is quite clear. We will not sign the treaty unless it is demonstrably in Australias national interest to do so. The Government will carefully consider all issues raised by interested parties and the general public in participating in the ongoing negotiation of the MAI.
Protecting our national interest involves ensuring that any agreement on the MAI does not override or weaken our current domestic policies. Accordingly, Australia will lodge all exceptions required to protect current policies, including in relation to foreign investment, immigration, and indigenous persons. Similarly, foreign investors operating in Australia would continue to be required to adhere to Australias domestic laws and regulations, including our environmental and labour standards.
A number of significant issues are yet to be settled and the negotiations on the MAI, which began in 1995 under the previous Government, are not likely to conclude for some time.
The Government is making both documents tabled today readily available to interested parties by placing them on the Commonwealth Treasurys Web site. Additional information on the MAI is also on that site.
A copy of the tabling statement, which emphasises the preliminary and draft nature of the draft treaty and schedule of reservations, is attached.
CANBERRA
31 March 1998
Contact:
Penny Farnsworth,
Assistant Treasurers Office
Telephone: (02) 6277 7360
Mobile: 0419 482 497
Tony Hinton,
Department of the Treasury
Telephone: (02) 6263 3755