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PLUNDERED WORLD Opposition to US-Australia Trade Agreement Jan 13th 2004 The Australia US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) has been negotiated behind closed doors since March 2003. Read How will a USA-Aus Free Trade Agreement Affect You?. A number of large US Environmental organisations have said the AUSFTA may undermine environmental protection initiatives within Australian and U.S jurisdictions. Their concerns are echoed by the Australian Conservation Foundation and independent research: a report released in October by Ozprospect.org which argues that a free trade agreement with the United States will generate significant and to date unreported negative environment impacts, including an increase in Australian water use by up to 1.3 trillion litres per year – almost as much as the entire national domestic water use. (Report in PDF Format). According to Health and Welfare organisations Medicines are still threatened. Further, the Australia Institute released a report (PDF)in December discussing the US's targeting of Australia's intellectual property laws as part of the USFTA, and the impact this would have on pharmaceutical prices. While some on the left put forward a statist anti-nationalist argument against the free trade agreement, other prominent people question the Logic that leads to a plundered world, whilst still others provide a broader critique of Preventive war, Common Security and the State. -- Visit the proposed Leftlink web site at http://www.leftlink.net/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
