Lamy visit puts spotlight on losers in Howard’s trade stance

Media Statement - 17 July 2002

Comments by visiting European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy have placed John Howard's trade policies in a very uncomfortable position: under the microscope.

Mr Lamy pointed out that the Howard Government has not pulled its weight in the international trade arena, preferring to stitch up second-rate side-deals with the US, rather than tackling the tough issues like US steel tariffs.

And we still remember how the Prime Minister went to water before a Joint Sitting of the US Congress last month, unable to convey Australian farmers' legitimate worries about the $300 billion US Farm Bill.

Mr Lamy put the Howard Government on notice, in no uncertain terms:

• Warning that, in return for better access to the EU market for Australian farmers, the EU will want single-desk wheat sales axed and foreign ownership restrictions lifted on water distribution and Telstra, both vital services for the bush,

• Challenging our quarantine regulations, intimating that Australia uses quarantine as a barrier to trade, rather than as a barrier to disease.

We can therefore expect to see the EU, in the current global round of trade negotiations, challenge Australia's quarantine efforts and our successful single-desk wheat exports, and seek concessions so that foreign investors can own more of Telstra.

These are issues of critical importance to Australia. The big question is, are they safe in John Howard's hands? Are poorer telephone services and threats to our agricultural export industry the price Australians will have to pay for the poor performance of Mr Howard and his Trade Minister?

With Australia's international trade credibility driven to an historic low, and John Howard unable to deal even-handedly with the Europeans and the US, it's difficult to be optimistic.

If the Howard Government can't deliver on international trade, Australians, and particularly people in the bush, stand to bear very real and painful costs.