The Australia-US Free Trade Agreement in the Media
April - June 2004
June 30, 2004, The Age, "Kerry backs free trade agreement", By Tim Colebatch
The US Congress is set to ratify the free trade agreement with Australia, after Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry declared his support for the deal. Read the full text here.
June 29, 2004, The Australian, "Big FTA stoush brewing on copyright", By James Riley
The open source movement in Australia is leaving nothing to chance in making sure its opposition to the FTA is heard loud and clear in Canberra. Linux Australia is funding a flying visit to Australia by US constitutional lawyer and intellectual property guru Lawrence Lessig, who will make an 11th-hour appearance before the Senate committee considering the matter. Read the full text here.
29 June, 2004, ABC Rural News, "Strong signs of US-Australia FTA passing US Senate"
There are the strongest signs yet that the free trade deal with Australia will pass through the US Senate within the next month. Senate majority leader Bill Frist has announced he'll bring the deal to a vote in July. Read the full text here.
June 28, 2004, Sydney Morning Herald, "Being strong, smart and ourselves", By Toni Collette
As I understand it, if the free trade agreement goes ahead, the limited protection in place for Australian free to air television will not apply to new media. With technology moving at the pace it does, we don't know how our programs will be delivered to us in 10 or 15 years and that could be a disaster for us. Read the full text here.
June 27, 2004, The Australian, "Labor defends FTA delay"
Labor would not bow to pressure to make a decision on the US-Australia free trade agreement until a Senate committee had completed its work, Opposition trade spokesman Stephen Conroy said today. Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, The Australian, "Premiers tell ALP to pass FTA", By James Grubel
LABOR premiers today told the ALP to pass the government's free trade agreement with the US. New South Wales Premier Bob Carr said all premiers wanted their federal counterparts to pass the deal and he described opposition to the trade pact as far-fetched. Read the full text here.
25 June 2004, ABC Radio National: The World Today, "Labour split over FTA", Reporter: Sarah Clarke
The Government has moved to exploit Labor's division over the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Last night the bill passed the House of Representatives, but the majority of Labour MP's walked out when it came to a vote. Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, Sydney Morning Herald, "House passes free trade law, Senate vote on hold", By Matt Wade
The free trade deal with the United States moved a step closer last night when legislation to bring the agreement into force passed in the lower house. Fifteen Labor MPs voted with the Government in the House of Representatives, while more than 40 abstained. Labor has yet to say whether it will support the legislation in the Senate. Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, The Age, "Not happy John! PM has put our culture up for sale", By Gillian Armstrong
It is the broader implication of the deal that concerns me most - the very fact that we were ready to say, "yes, we are prepared to limit the sovereign right of our nation to determine its own cultural policy". Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, ABC News, "Labor premiers back US trade deal"
There is more pressure on the Federal Opposition to support the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, after Australia's state premiers said they were united in thinking it was in the national interest. Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, ABC News, "Labor denies vote exposed FTA divisions"
The Federal Government has used a Parliamentary vote on the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States to claim the Opposition is the most divided it has been in 50 years. But Labor MPs have laughed off the suggestion. The Opposition has agreed to allow the FTA legislation through the House of Representatives. However, it has reserved its final position until the matter has been considered by the Senate later this year. Read the full text here.
June 25, 2004, ABC News, "Vaile confident Labor will pass FTA laws"
Trade Minister Mark Vaile is hopeful Labor will back legislation to implement a free trade agreement with the United States in the Upper House, after the bill cleared its first parliamentary hurdle last night. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, Sydney Morning Herald (editorial), "PBS: where the real threat is"
The FTA must be judged on whether it would jeopardise the PBS and, if so, whether the agreement's trade benefits for Australia outweigh such a downside. It is not a decision to be rushed. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, AAP, "Trade pact stumbles in US Congress"
Bush administration efforts to win swift approval of a new free trade pact with Australia have stumbled after a powerful US Senate committee demanded more control over the pact's beef import provisions. The Senate Finance Committee has voted 11-10 for the Bush administration to change its implementing legislation for the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, ABC News, "Report questions FTA benefits"
The Senate committee examining the benefits of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States has released its interim report. There have been over 500 submissions to the inquiry and the committee chair, Labor's Peter Cook, says there are a number issues that have created considerable public disquiet. "These include the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, Australians national cultural objectives," he said. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, The Australian, "Report to question FTA benefits"
A Senate committee is likely to raise concerns about the US-Australia free trade agreement when it hands down an interim report today. The committee, set up by Labor and the minor parties, is continuing to take evidence on the trade deal that the Government is forcing through the House of Representatives. Read the full text here.
24 June 2004, Online Opinion, "Tightening the trade in intellectual property", By Mike Willis
New protections for intellectual property owners sit oddly in a free trade agreement and will work against Australia’s interests. Read the full text here.
24 June 2004, ABC Rural News, "Australia-US FTA amended in Washington"
"I don't believe this is a good deal for United States agriculture. Our exports will not see significant gains. Our beef and dairy sectors are put at additional risk." North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad, who has succeeded in amending the US-Australia free trade bill to further tighten safeguards on beef imports. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, ABC News, "FTA legislation on its way to Senate"
Legislation to implement a free trade agreement with the United States has passed the House of Representatives with Labor's support. Only the three Independents and the Greens MP opposed the trade deal. The Opposition says it will not decide whether it will support the Bill in the Senate until a parliamentary inquiry hands down its findings in mid-August. Read the full text here.
June 24, 2004, Courier Mail, "ALP backs committee on FTA roll-out", By Malcolm Cole
THE Labor Party has prepared the ground to support the US free trade agreement by backing a series of recommendations from a parliamentary committee on how the deal should be implemented.The Labor members of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties refused to endorse a recommendation by Government members that the trade deal should be ratified and enforced from January next year. But Labor backed 22 other recommendations, covering 17 areas related to how the agreement should be rolled out in the Australian economy. Read the full text here.
June 23, 2004, ABC News, "Senate hitch faces US free trade bill"
Labor has agreed to pass the legislation for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States in the House of Representatives, but will not decide what to do in the Senate until a committee report in August. Read the full text here.
June 23, 2004, The Age, "Labor split opens up over free trade deal", By Tim Colebatch
Divisions have broken out in the Labor Party over the free trade agreement with the United States, with one Labor frontbencher yesterday hinting at support for the agreement while another sharply criticised it. With the Government to introduce legislation today implementing the deal, Labor's agriculture spokesman Gavan O'Connor for the first time floated the option of Labor seeking to renegotiate parts of the deal rather than voting to accept or reject it. Read the full text here.
June 23, 2004, AAP, "Parliamentary committee backs FTA"
A parliamentary committee has found the Australia-US free trade agreement (FTA) would be good for Australia. But Labor members of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties issued a dissenting report, saying the committee had not had time to properly consider the deal. Read the full text here.
June 23, 2004, The Australian, "Latham sniffs trade wind"
The Labor Party has not yet lost its political sanity on foreign and trade policy, and this means it is likely to vote for the free trade agreement with the US. But it will be a close-run thing. A strange coalition of old-fashioned protectionists, global free traders, special interests, anti-American prejudice and a concern over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has pulled Labor towards rejecting the FTA. Read the full text here.
June 23, 2004, The Australian, "Latham sniffs trade wind", By Paul Kelly
The Labor Party has not yet lost its political sanity on foreign and trade policy, and this means it is likely to vote for the free trade agreement with the US. But it will be a close-run thing. A strange coalition of old-fashioned protectionists, global free traders, special interests, anti-American prejudice and a concern over the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has pulled Labor towards rejecting the FTA. Read the full text here.
June 22, 2004, The Age, "What's the FTA worth to us?", By Tim Colebatch
There are three economic studies of the Australia-US free trade agreement. One estimates it will raise Australian incomes by $52.5 billion over the next 20 years. A second says it will make us $47 billion worse off. And a third estimates that, at best, it will generate a tiny gain of $53 million a year. Read the full text here.
June 22, 2004, ABC News, "Labor fears for car industry under FTA"
Opposition Industry spokesman Kim Carr says evidence is mounting that the deal will threaten Australia's automotive sector. "Senior executives of American motor companies in America [are] saying if we sell too many cars they'll make them in America," he said. Read the full text here.
June 22, 2004, The Australian "FTA peril to R&D", By Simon Hayes
AUSTRALIA'S peak technology research body has warned that the country risks losing the benefits of millions of dollars worth of federal government grants if moves to liberalise foreign ownership laws go ahead as part of the US-Australian tree trade agreement. The Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies told a Senate committee on the FTA that the national benefits test applied to government programs such as R&D Start and Comet would be put at risk by the agreement. Read the full text here.
June 21, 2004, AAP, "Labor won't rush on FTA: Latham"
LABOR would not be rushed into making a decision about whether to support the US-Australia free trade agreement (FTA), Opposition Leader Mark Latham said today. The Government will this week introduce legislative changes into Parliament to pave the way for the FTA. Mr Latham said the Government had agreed to allow a Senate committee until August 12 to examine the FTA, but was now rushing legislation in for political purposes. Read the full text here.
June 16, 2004, National Nine News, “Doctors urge US to oppose FTA”
A doctors group has written to American lawmakers urging them to oppose the Australia-United States free trade agreement (FTA). The Doctors Reform Society (DRS), plus a range of other public health groups, have written to Congress members, warning the deal will hurt Australian and American citizens. Read the full text here.
June 16, 2004, The Age, "Latham's next big hurdle: the trade deal", By Michelle Grattan
For Labor to go to the election with no position on the US free trade deal would be a cop-out. As if the ALP at the moment doesn't have enough on its hands with the Americans, the US-Australia free trade agreement is closing in as another hazardous "alliance" issue. Read the full text here.
June 16, 2004, ABC Rural News, “Congress discusses US - Australia FTA”
The US Congress has held its first formal meeting to discuss the free trade agreement between Australia and the US. Senate finance chairman Chuck Grassley called the FTA a solid agreement that deserves broad bi-partisan support of the congress. One feather in Australia's cap, Grassley says, is new sanitary rules for pork. Australia will now permit the importation of US processed pork and US pork for processing. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, ABC Radio National, The World Today, “Copyright costs under scrutiny in free trade deal with US”, Reporter: Stephen Long
The Opposition is very concerned about a new study showing that Australia's free trade agreement with the United States could involve many costs, including higher prices for medicines and few gains. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, The Australian, “Trade deal's 'black mark' on drugs”
FEDERAL Labor leader Mark Latham said reports drug prices could go up as a result of the free trade agreement with the United States were a black mark against the future of the deal. Mr Latham is concerned by a special study commissioned by an independent Senate inquiry that has found drug prices could rise under the US FTA. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, Courier-Mail, “Rank and file refuse to back Beattie on US trade”, By Rosemary Odgers
PREMIER Peter Beattie was yesterday rolled by his own party, angry over his support for the controversial free trade agreement between Australia and the US. A last-minute attempt by Mr Beattie at the Labor state conference to defer an urgency motion condemning the proposed free trade agreement failed by one vote. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, The Australian, “Free trade deal to push up prices”, By David Uren
DRUG prices will rise under the US free trade agreement, and the economic gains from the deal will be a fraction of the $6 billion claimed by the Howard Government. These concerns are outlined in a special study commissioned by the Senate committee reviewing the proposed agreement. The findings, scheduled for release this week, could mean the FTA faces increased opposition in the Senate. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, AAP, “Drug costs cast doubt on FTA”
Labor on Monday promised to apply the smell test to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to resolve competing claims from the US drug industry and the Australian government. "Having US drug companies running around claiming a victory makes us very suspicious and that certainly has us wanting to put it through the smell test," Opposition trade spokesman Stephen Conroy said on ABC radio. Read the full text here.
June 14, 2004, The Australian, “New fears on drug prices threaten FTA”, By David Uren
DRUG prices will rise under the US free trade agreement, and the economic gains from the deal will be a fraction of the $6 billion claimed by the Howard Government. These concerns are outlined in a special study commissioned by the Senate committee reviewing the proposed agreement. The findings, scheduled for release this week, could mean the FTA faces increased opposition in the Senate. Read the full text here.
June 12, 2004, ABC News, "Qld union members rally against FTA"
Union members opposed to Australia's free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States have staged a rally outside the ALP State Conference in Brisbane. The unions want Queensland Premier Peter Beattie to drop all support for the trade deal. Read the full text here.
8 June 2004, IndustrySearch News, “Mickey Mouse wins but Aust loses under FTA: Report”
Mickey Mouse will be $450 million better off but Australia will be $50 billion in the red due to a free trade deal with the United States, a new report has found. Read the full text here.
June 7, 2004, AAP, "Free trade deal will cost thousands of jobs: study"
The Australia-United States free trade agreement will cost the Australian economy almost $50 billion and up to 200,000 jobs, a new study has found. Compiled by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the report found Australia would effectively surrender its chances to expand into knowledge-based industries under the trade deal. Read the full text here.
5 June 2004, Courier-Mail, "FTA baffles the best of us", By Fleur Anderson and Michael Harvey
ORDINARY Australians need no longer feel embarrassed they don't understand the economic benefits of the US-Australia free trade agreement. Australia's top economist, Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane doesn't get it either. "I find it too complex. Every time someone tries to bring it up with me I find there's so many things I've never heard of. "I think you have to be a trade specialist to understand it." Read the full text here.
June 5, 2004, Sydney Morning Herald, "US official alleges ALP trade split" By Peter Hartcher
A top United States official has suggested that scepticism of the Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, over the proposed free trade agreement with the US is politically motivated and unrepresentative. Read the full text here.
June 4, 2004, Bloomberg, "House Will Pass Australia Trade Agreement in July, Blunt Says"
The U.S. House of Representatives will pass a free trade agreement with Australia in July with Democratic support for the bill, Missouri Representative Roy Blunt, the third-ranking Congressional Republican, said. Read the full text here.
June 4, 2004, AAP, "Howard wins US backing for trade deal"
Prime Minister John Howard won bipartisan backing for the free trade agreement with the United States today after a series of top-level meetings at the US Congress. Read the full text here.
June 04, 2004, The Australian, "Howard wins support for FTA", By James Grubel
PRIME Minister John Howard won bipartisan backing for the free trade agreement with the United States today after a series of top-level meetings at the US Congress. The prime minister had one-to-one meetings with the powerful House speaker Dennis Hastert, House Minority Leader Chuck Grassley and other key lawmakers to lobby support for the agreement to help it pass through Congress. Read the full text here.
June 04, 2004, The Australian "Congress to move on FTA" By Jim Abrams
UNITED States congressional leaders today pledged to move quickly to ratify an agreement that would make Australia one of the few nations enjoying a free trade relationship with the United States. That assurance came as Prime Minister John Howard told US President George W. Bush in a White House meeting in Washington that he was committed to keeping Australia's troops in Iraq. Read the full text here.
June 3, 2004, ABC Rural News, "Australian Democrats urge Congress to oppose FTA"
The Australian Democrats have made a new push to stop the signing of a free trade deal between Australia and the United States. They've written to members of the US Congress urging them to vote against the deal at the same time as the Prime Minister is in Washington today, drumming up support for it. Read the full text here.
June 03, 2004, The Australian, "'Block FTA': Dems to Congress"
The Australian Democrats have written to every member of the United States Congress, asking them to block the Australia-America free trade deal. On the day that Prime Minister John Howard arrives in Washington for talks with US President George W. Bush, and to lobby senators to vote for the free trade agreement (FTA), Democrats trade spokesman Aden Ridgeway said the US Congress had been asked to oppose the deal. Read the full text here.
May 31, 2004, Australian Parliamentary Library, "Intellectual property rights and the Australia—US Free Trade Agreement"
This paper found that "While there has not been a comprehensive economic evaluation of IPRs, the Productivity Commission has found that, as a net importer of IPRs, Australia would lose more than it gains by strengthening IPRs. The net economic impact is thus likely to be negative.". Read the full text here.
May 29, 2004, British Medical Journal, "The free trade agreement between Australia and the United States undermines Australian public health and protects US interests in pharmaceuticals", By Peter Drahos & David Henry
Bilateral trade agreements and TRIPS together provide the US pharmaceutical industry with a means of strengthening and enforcing patent monopolies globally. They are a covert form of private governance that threatens to undermine hard won public gains in health regulation around the world. Read the full text here.
May 28, 2004, The Age, "Digital content industry fears for its future"
The Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) has made a submission about the US-Australia FTA to the joint standing committee on treaties amid fears that the local industry will be buried under an avalanche of American content if the deal comes into force. Read the full text here.
27 May 2004, Queensland Country Life, "Australia's quarantine rules in US farmers' sights", By Ben Houston
American farmers believe US exports of high-value food products to Australia stand to rise by up to US$200 million a year through the proposed Free Trade Agreement, particularly if our quarantine restrictions are removed. Read the full text here.
May 24, 2004, ABC News, "Howard denies FTA linked to Mitsubishi closure"
Prime Minister John Howard says the closure of a Mitsubishi plant in Adelaide has nothing to do with Australia's free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. Read the full text here.
21 May, 2004, ABC Radio National, The World Today, "Fall-back plan needed to protect PBS from free trade deal", Reporter: Alexandra Kirk
While the free trade deal with the United States has been signed in Washington, the wrangle about what it really means for Australia's unique health system is heating up. Supporters of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme want the FTA to be scrapped, but have come up with a fall-back plan to protect the PBS. Read the full transcript here.
May 20, 2004, The New York Times, "Distracted by Iraq, Bush hasn't sold deal"
The United States and Australia have signed a free-trade agreement, and the Bush administration says it hopes Congress will pass the measure this summer. But the prospects for congressional approval of the deal, signed Tuesday, are uncertain. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, The Australian, "US trade deal raises prescriptions", By Peter Mitchell
THE free trade agreement with the United States would lead to Australians paying 30 per cent more for prescription drugs, a leading American academic warned today. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, ABC News, "PM says trade deal won't boost medicine price"
Prime Minister John Howard has hit out at suggestions the Federal Government's proposed free trade deal with the United States will push up the price of subsidised medicines in Australia. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, New Zealand Herald, "Signed trade deal far from done", By Greg Ansley
Australia and the United States have formally signed their new free-trade agreement despite continuing opposition on both sides of the Pacific and doubts that the man who may be the next American President will support it. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, Australian Financial Review, "Environment Pays Dearly For Free Trade", By Peter Garrett
The price for economic growth always means further degradation in the natural world. The truth is, the free-trade agreement is a very bad deal for Australia's natural environment. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, The Age, "Why is Howard so loyal to US businesses?", By Kenneth Davidson
The free trade agreement will help American drug companies and harm Australian consumers. Read the full text here.
May 20, 2004, The Age, "Labor warns it may block trade deal", By Tim Colebatch, Marian Wilkinson
Labor may block the free trade agreement with the United States because of changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, the party warned yesterday. Read the full text here.
19 May, 2004, ABC Radio National, The World Today, "Study predicts trade agreement will cost PBS $1.5-bil", Reporter: Catherine McGrath
A new study says the free trade agreement with the USA would cost Australia's pharmaceutical benefits scheme $1.5-billion more than expected. It's the first private study of the cost since the draft of the deal was released. The study was conducted by two former members of the Government's Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. Read the full transcript here.
May 19, 2004, ABC News, "Aust, US formalise free trade plan", By Lisa Millar
Australia and the United States have formally signed a free trade agreement at a ceremony in Washington. Read the full text here.
May 19 2004, AAP, "Trade deal signed with US"
Australia and the United States signed an historic free trade agreement overnight amid concerns the US Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry may not back the deal. Read the full text here.
18 May 2004, IndustrySearch News, “Farmers and copyright specialists warn on FTA impact”
Sugar farmers, pork producers and a copyright specialist on Monday raised concerns a free trade deal with the United States had sold short local producers. Read the full text here.
May 15, 2004, British Medical Journal, "Generics industry and doctors nervous over free trade deal", By Bob Burton
The generic drug industry and doctors groups have warned that a proposed free trade agreement between Australia and the United States is likely to increase pressure on the Australian government’s subsidised pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Read the full text here.
May 8, 2004, ABC News, "Union attacks Beattie for backing US trade deal"
The powerful Australian Manufacturers Workers Union (AMWU) has attacked the Queensland Premier for supporting the free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States. Read the full text here.
May 7, 2004, Australian Financial Review, "The downside of the FTA", By John Quiggin.
The government’s latest evidence in favour of the free trade agreement is complex and unconvincing. Read the full text here.
May 7, 2004, ABC Rural News, "Science federation criticises Biosecurity Australia over FTA"
The peak body representing the country's scientists has lashed out at quarantine regulator Biosecurity Australia, calling for an urgent overhaul of the agency. Read the full text here.
May 6, 2004, ABC News, "Scientists fear FTA boosts disease risk"
A Senate inquiry has been told there are serious concerns about the ability of Australia's quarantine body to protect agriculture from imported diseases under the US-Australia FTA. Read the full text here.
May 6, 2004, ABC News, "Trade deal music to APRA's ears"
The Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA), which represents composers, has backed the US-Australia free trade agreement. But APRA's director of international relations has acknowledged there is some concern about Australian content being maintained. Read the full text here.
May 5, 2004, ABC Rural News, "NFF defends its support for FTA with United States"
The National Farmers Federation has been has been forced to defend its decision to support Australia's free trade deal with the United States. At a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra, the National Farmers Federation has been questioned over its support for the deal, given it failed to achieve free trade in agriculture. Read the full text here.
May 4, 2004, Australian IT, "ACS flip-flops on FTA", By James Riley
THE Australian Computer Society (ACS) has reversed its position of support for the draft Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) intellectual property provisions. The society says that implementing copyright and patent law similar to the US would be a real problem, rendering much of the work done within the open source community illegal. Read the full text here.
May 4, 2004, ABC Radio National: AM, "Ross Garnaut says Government's FTA report laughable", Reporter: Hamish Fitzsimmons
While Labor is still to make up its mind on whether to support the free trade deal with the United States, economist and former diplomat Professor Ross Garnaut says the deal isn't worth all the money that Australians are being told. He says recent independent analysis of the deal is laughable, and estimates that the FTA would add $6 billion to Australia's GDP within a decade are flawed. Read the full transcript here.
May 3, 2004, ABC Radio National: PM, "Former diplomat says FTA benefits exaggerrated", Reporter: Louise Yaxley
Economics professor Ross Garnaut, a long-term supporter of global free trade, says the private consulting firm engaged by the Government to assess the gains from the US-Australa FTA has greatly overstated the potential benefits. Read the full transcript here.
May 3, 2004, Australian, "Vaile to sign FTA this month"
TRADE Minister Mark Vaile will head to the United States later this month to sign the controversial Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Read the full text here.
April 30, 2004, ABC News, "FTA offers marginal economic benefits: ALP"
The Federal Opposition says a new study into the Australia-US free trade agreement (FTA) shows the deal would provide only marginal economic benefit to Australia. "When you take some of the assumptions out of this model the benefits are almost non-existent." Read the full text here.
30 April 2004, AAP, "Report quantifies FTA boost to GDP"
The proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the US and Australia could increase Australia's real gross domestic product by $6.1 billion a year, a government-commissioned study has found. Read the full text here.
30 April 2004, ABC TV Lateline, "Government predicts $6bn FTA boost", By Greg Jennett
The results are in on the first official attempt to measure the benefits of Australia's proposed free trade agreement with America. Read the full text here.
April 30, 2004, Australian Financial Review, "Job loss fears speed up passage of FTA", By Tony Walker
Worries in an American presidential election year about job losses in the manufacturing sector have emerged as a catalyst to what is likely to be early Congressional approval of the US-Australia free-trade agreement. Read the full text here.
April 30, 2004, ABC Rural News, "Report claims FTA will lift rural exports by $670m"
A new report into the benefits of the Australian-US free trade deal claims rural exports will jump by $670 million a year, once fully implemented. But the report, by the Centre for International Economics, has found the gain to the agricultural sector is less than previously forecast, because of sugar's exclusion and the failure to achieve free trade in dairy. Read the full text here.
April 28, 2004, The Hill, "GOP gives green light to trade deal", By By Jonathan E. Kaplan
House Republican leaders are planning to bring the U.S.-Australia free trade agreement to the floor after the Bush administration intensified its efforts in dealing with foreign countries on the contentious drug reimportation issues. Read the full text here.
April 28, 2004, ABC News, "US free trade deal passes major hurdle"
The free trade agreement between Australia and the United States has passed a major hurdle on its way to US Congress approval. Read the full text here.
April 28, 2004, The Age, "FTA welcome, but not the main game: farm lobby" By Philip Hopkins
Australia's peak farming body has called on Federal Parliament to pass the US free trade agreement despite its shortcomings. However, the National Farmers Federation said the FTA should not undermine efforts to gain free trade through the World Trade Organisation, and called on the Government to devote more resources to the WTO agricultural negotiations. Read the full text here.
April 27, 2004, ABC Rural News, Mixed response to FTA inquiry
Farm lobby groups and rural organisations have given mixed opinions to the Federal Parliamentary inquiry into Australia's free trade deal with the United States. The inquiry, conducted by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, has received more than 150 submissions and must give its verdict on the deal by late June. Read the full text here.
April 25, 2004, ABC News, "Costello pushes FTA in Washington"
Treasurer Peter Costello says the Bush administration remains positive and optimistic about the hopes of getting a United States-Australia free trade agreement (FTA) into the American Congress in June. Read the full text here.
April 23, 2004, ABC News, "Greens believe FTA not clearly understood"
A parliamentary committee into the draft free trade agreement between Australia and the United States has been told there is a lack of understanding about the treaty's details. Greens MP Dee Margetts has given evidence to the Perth committee after leading a protest against the agreement. Read the full text here.
23 April 2004, Daily Liberal (Dubbo), "Picking apart trade pact", By David Braithwaite
A "hell of a big deal" or a "restriction on democracy" - two experts who differ on calling a trade a trade swapped views in Dubbo yesterday. Read the full text here.
Apr 23, 2004, Washington Times, "Major trade deals seen unlikely this year"
The only free-trade accords that seem to stand a chance in Congress in coming months are the one worked out in February with Australia and a similar one with Morocco. Read the full text here.
April 22, 2004, Herald Sun, "Holden's future is with FTA", By Geoff Easdown
HOLDEN has backed the US Free Trade Agreement claiming in a submission to the Australian government that its future depends on exports. The nation's leading carmarker says it wants to to build overseas vehicle sales to one third of annual production. Read the full text here.
April 21, 2004, ABC Rural News, "Dairy industry urges support for FTA"
The dairy industry has urged a federal parliamentary inquiry into Australia's free trade deal with the US to give full support to the agreement. Read the full text here.
April 19, 2004, Business Report, "Australia begins public inquiry into US free trade pact benefits"
A public inquiry into the benefits of Australia's proposed free trade agreement with the United States began in Sydney on Monday as opponents stepped up a campaign to block the agreement's passage through parliament. Read the full text here.
April 19, 2004, ABC News, "Inquiry hears arguments for and against FTA"
A parliamentary inquiry into the Government's free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States has begun in Sydney. Read the full text here.
April 19, 2004, AAP, "Greens attack free trade agreement"
The Howard government's proposed free trade agreement with the United States was not in Australia's best interests, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle said today. Read the full text here.
April 18, 2004, The Age, "Stars to make political statement" By Jonathon Moran
A group of television personalities is planning to use tonight's Logie Awards to make a political statement. Up to 1,000 entertainers and industry players will don green and gold ribbons to register their concern over Australia's free trade negotiations with the US. Read the full text here.
April 16, 2004, ABC News, "FTA benefit report delayed"
The release of an independent report looking at the benefits of the Australia-US free trade deal has been delayed. The Centre for International Economics was commissioned by the Federal Government to conduct the report but failed to meet last week's deadline. Read the full text here.
14 April 2004, Australian Financial Review, "Lobby groups gather to dispute the FTA", By Lisa Allen, with Allesandra Fabro
Doctors, drug lobbyists and consumer groups are warring over the shape of the free trade agreement with the US as the first round of public hearings into the controversial deal begins next Monday. Read the full text here.
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