Gympie One Nation candidate Ian Petersen today lashed out at the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) which he says will cause horrific damage to local communities throughout Australia. This follows his resolution at a recent Cooloola Shire Council meeting to request the L.G.A.Q. to provide an assessment of the treaty and its ramifications for local councils.
MAI is a treaty which virtually hands over our sovereignty to multinationals said Mr Petersen. It gives foreigners the right to establish business operations in Australia, to bring in their own employees and families, and to take their profits out of Australia paying little or no tax. A multinational company would also be given the right to take legal action against any of the three tiers of government if it perceived that any action by that government favoured a local company. For example, a foreign company established here could take Cooloola Shire Council to an international court of law if our Shire Council showed any favoured treatment to a Gympie company. The cost of such proceedings would cripple the Shire and the ratepayers.
Just as in the case of those other socially and economically destructive initiatives, the Hilmer Reforms and National Competitive Policy, negotiations on MAI were instigated by the former ALP government and have been continued on by the Coalition, said Mr Petersen. The blame must be apportioned equally.
The social cost of handling over virtual control of Australia to the multinationals will be catastrophic. We are already seeing Australian companies forced to go offshore, thereby losing thousands of jobs for Australians. Now we will see take-overs and invasion by foreign companies causing further devastation to Australian employment, he said.
What other country in the world would have the control of its business community so heavily vested in foreign hands? Thousands have fought and died to preserve our freedom. Now we are witnessing that freedom being given away. Whilst admitting that the MAI is a Federal issue, Mr Petersen said we could not “blame the Feds”, throw our hands in the air and meekly surrender. The social cost will be borne by every man, woman and child in our local community to fight tooth and nail to circumvent this horrific legislation, which has the potential to cause a meltdown in our society as we know it, Mr Petersen concluded.
Statement issued by Ian Petersen, One Nation candidate for Gympie