Crean optimistic Pacific ministers will agree to PACER Plus talks
Updated
Australia's Trade Minister, Simon Crean, has rejected suggestions that decisions made during this week's Pacific Tade Ministers meeting in Samoa may lack legal validity, because Fiji was not invited. A legal opinion produced for Pacific Civil Society Organisations says discussions of PACER Plus, that do not include Fiji, are legally questionable. The proposed Free Trade deal between Australia and New Zealand and the Pacific Island countries is increasing the political temperature in Apia. But before leaving Australia, Mr Crean was optimisitc that he will be able to persude the Trade Ministers to start negotiations this year.
Presenter Jemima Garrett
Speakers: Australian Trade Minster Simon Crean, Maureen Penjueli, Pacific Network on Globalisation, Adam Wolfenden, Australian and New Zealand Civil Society Organisations.
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GARRETT: Apia is a honey pot for anyone interested in the future of the Pacific's trade relations. Trade Officials met last week and this week there are two Trade Ministers meetings, the first a Pacific only meeting and the second a full Forum Trade Ministers meeting including Australia and New Zealand.
It is at that second meeting which begins Wednesday Samoan time that the controversial decisions will be made.
Pacific civil society organisations have arrived in Samoa where they have launched an appeal to Pacific Ministers containing 9 demands, on the top of their list is a plea that the ministers NOT agree to start negotiations for PACER plus this year.
Even before that, the civil society organisations produced a legal opinion which casts doubt on the legal standing of the meetings whatever they should decide.
That opinion from New Zealand Law Professor Jane Kelsey says that because PACER is a treaty separate from the Pacific Islands Forum Fiji cannot be excluded.
Australia's Trade Minister Simon Crean rejects the legal opinion.
CREAN: Fiji has been suspended from forum activities because of its failure to comply with the decision of forum island countries leaders. We are not excluding Fiji. They have excluded themselves.
GARRETT: But Fiji is a party to PACER and the legal opinion says Fiji as a result of that has a right to be present at discussions on PACER despite what it does in the forum. Doesn't that mean there should be a meeting separate to this Trade Ministers meeting to discuss PACER?
CREAN: No, Fiji has been suspended from the Forum. It's as simple as that.
GARRETT: Australia's Trade Minister Simon Crean.
Thirteen Pacific Civil Society Organisations signed the civil society statement launched in Apia.
Spokesperson Maureen Penjuelli says they stepped up their campaign in response to what they know will happen over the next two days.
PENJUELLI: We know that Australia is keen to secure political commitment to launch negotiations. As a result of that fast tracking of PACER Plus, we have had to also pick up our campaign and we've gone to a great extent to consult very broadly in the Pacific with both NGO's, churches, trade unions, womens group, development group to try and come up with a very consolidated statement, that would express our concerns to our leaders.
GARRETT: Maureen Penjuelli representing Pacific civil society organisations at the Pacific Trade ministers meetings in Apia.
Australian and New Zealand civil society organisations say they are also stepping up the pressure on their governments.
Adam Wolfenden.
WOLFENDEN: We have already had people emailing and contacting Simon Crean sort of expressing our views that Australia should not be pushing. pressuring for an agreement on negotiations for a PACER Plus agreement from this meeting or to be announced at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in August. We've been doing a lot of media work and outreach to raise awareness around the issues and I guess we'll be looking to further that campaign to see any PACER agreement reflects the needs and desires of the Pacific through ongoing community outreach and campaign work.
GARRETT: Adam Wolfenden from the Australian Fair Trade and Investment network.
Despite his critics Australia's Trade Minister Simon Crean is optimistic about the outcome of the Trade Ministers meeting in Apia.
CREAN: We hope to bring together all the discussions we have had intensively over the last 12 months to identify the problem and sort out the issues and we hope out of that, we can get agreement to recommend to leaders, when they meet in Cairns, that we commence the PACER Plus negotiations.
GARRETT: Papua New Guinea has come out publicly in favour of starting formal negotiations for PACER Plus this year. How significant is that?
CREAN: Well, it's significant, but of course we have to get the agreement of all of the countries. It's an agreement that we are seeking to develop between Australia and New Zealand and all of the 14 island countries. But I think that there has been broad acceptance at the political level by many of the countries in the region. By getting us altogether for the Trade Ministers, I hope that we can iron out any remaining differences and get the commitment to commence. Now I think it is important a moment to understand that we have not approached this as a traditional free trade agreement, because we see it very much being a capacity-building exercise as well. It's why it is called PACER Plus and why we want to put substance into the plus. Sparteca I think has taught us that within the region, it isn't enough simply to open markets, to liberalise them. You have also got to build the capacity of nations to be able to take advantage of those markets. Very much we've been spending time over the last 12 months trying to get a better feel for what the needs of particular countries are, to urge them to identify their priorities, their needs in the capacity-building stakes, and to see whether we can't work together to build in that capacity at the same time we're developing the PACER agreement.
