US-Aust
FTA will be rejected unless big on agriculture: PM
AAP,
Fri November 21, 2003
CANBERRA, Nov 21 AAP - Australia will reject a free trade agreement
with the United States if America failed to agree to big concessions
on agriculture, Prime Minister John Howard said today.
"It
stands to reason that if we can't get something quite big on agriculture
then we won't have a free trade agreement, we won't," he told radio
3AW.
But
Mr Howard said it was reasonable for Australia to give the Americans
things they wanted if they agreed to Australia's agriculture demands.
"To
get something big on agriculture, we will obviously have to agree to
some things that the Americans put to us," he said.
However
the prime minister said Australia was unwilling to give up the existing
local content laws relating to film and television.
"Obviously
in a negotiation like this if we want something big from the Americans
then they will want something from us and we are willing to look at
some suggestions they might have in other areas," he said.
"But
the line we've taken to date is the existing local content rules ought
to be preserved in relation to existing media.
"As
to some discussion about what might apply to future arrangements then
that might be part of the negotiation."
Mr
Howard said he understood why the film and television industry was worried
about protection under a FTA but guaranteed the local content laws would
remain.
"People
must understand with these things that you can only look at it when
you've got a total agreement and see what the benefits for Australia
are against the possible detriments," he said.