The MAI and Australia [Stop MAI, updated 28 May, 1999]

• Alerted by Canadian internet disclosure of the MAI's contents, and by the ABC radio series "The Quiet Debate" transcribed on a website, the Australian Stop MAI Coalition was formed in January 1998 with the support of unionists, environmentalists, lawyers and academics. Our first enquiries to the Government resulted in a reluctant trickle of information from Treasury but Australia's list of reservations was kept secret from the public and Parliament alike.
• On 5 March 1998, Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer referred the matter of the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment), to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) to investigate whether it was in Australia's national interest to sign the MAI. The minor parties and ALP in the Senate laid down much more demanding terms of reference.
• With little publicity, 792 submissions, mostly opposing, were received in a month.
• The Inquiry’s Interim Report tabled in both Houses on June 1^st damned Treasury and the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Tourism which lists investment promotion as part of its portfolio. Neither department was able to present evidence, research or analysis to demonstrate that the MAI was good for Australia. The report also condemned the style of consultation in these terms:

1.28 The Committee acknowledges that briefing sessions have been provided for parliamentarians and their staff, but questions whether these were an attempt at genuine consultation with the Parliament by the Treasury in the development of the MAI or whether they were merely information-providing in response to the mounting public and political criticisms of the agreement. We note that, up until 31 March 1998, certain select bodies were in the privileged position of 'being consulted' and were given access to the draft negotiating text and other material at a time when it was denied to the Australian Parliament and the public."

• The OECD was unable to complete the MAI negotiations to its May 1998 deadline owing to unresolved difficulties and concerns raised by opponents over the lack of public consultation. Further talks of the full negotiating committee were put off until 20-21 October, 1998, with a view to getting the treaty signed in May, 1999. An OECD ministerial statement (ref. nw98-50a, later annexed at the foot of nw98-51a) announced that consultation would take place with civil society and foreshadowed that investment rules would also be pursued in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
• Negotiations continued between groups of countries in an effort to resolve problems and, in the case of France, citizens’ representatives were systematically consulted.
• Australia’s senior Treasury official responsible for negotiating the MAI, Mr Tony Hinton, declined to attend JSCOT's May 6 public hearing on the MAI and, instead, flew to Paris to attend the abortive MAI negotiations. (JSCOT proceedings are listed on the web.)
• Stop MAI campaigners rallied popular opinion through public meetings and media statements, but were accorded little or no publicity by media, except the ABC, throughout their campaign.
• In October 1998, a letter endorsed by representatives of 140 Australian organisations and hundreds of individuals was delivered to Prime Minister Howard and the chairman of the OECD Mai Committee, urging suspension of negotiations and action toward a more acceptable alternative. This was heavily supported by churches, unions and academia.

• The host French Prime Minister, M. Lionel Jospin, withdrew his team from the talks on 14 October, saying the MAI unduly compromised national sovereignty in favour of private interests. This action removed any possibility of united European Union support.
• The remaining ministers were unable to progress the MAI negotiations. UK Trade Minister, Brian Wilson, stated that "the intention . . .to present an agreement for signature in May 1999…looked most unlikely and that the UK and the European Union would seek further negotiations through the World Trade Organisation.

• On 30 October, Australia's Cabinet Secretary issued a statement that, at the OECD meeting "it became clear that the MAI in its current form will not go ahead." The Government had "agreed to continue work on developing an international framework of rules for investment. The MAI text. . . will now only be a reference point for any further work."

• On November 11, representatives of Australian civil society published an advertisement in The Australian newspaper, calling on the Government to withdraw from the MAI and not resume the negotiations in any other forum.

• The final JSCOT report on the MAI was tabled on 22 March, 1999.

The European Union is now laying foundations for the negotiations to move in 1999 from the OECD to the World Trade Organization (WTO), favoured also by Japan and the UK. In May, 1999, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a manifesto, Global Trade Reform - supporting immediate moves for trade liberalisation.