In the meantime, if you’re in Melbourne or Sydney, you may be interested to come along to a special public meeting next week, to be addressed two prominent Pacific Island trade activists:

Trade, labour mobility and development in the Pacific.

The Australian government has been pushing for greater regional economic integration in the Pacific islands, and promoting a regional trade agreement known as PACER-Plus. But what will free trade and increased overseas investment mean for workers and local communities in the Pacific? What are the costs and benefits of increased labour mobility in the Pacific and seasonal work schemes which provide access for Pacific workers to the Australian and New Zealand labour markets?

Join us to hear from two leading campaigners for trade justice in the Pacific:

* Maureen Penjueli from Fiji is co-ordinator of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), which links regional community, church and women’s organisations to raise awareness about the social, cultural and economic impacts of PACER-Plus and free trade in the Pacific.

* John Salong from Vanuatu is director of the Vanuatu Women’s Development Scheme (VANWODS), a non-government microfinance group, which provides disadvantaged women with access to credit and income earning opportunities. John has been active in the debate about remittances, seasonal labour mobility and development options for rural communities in Vanuatu.

Details:

MELBOURNE:

Date: Monday 16 November 2009, 6.00pm
Venue: Meeting room 1, Ground floor, Trades Hall (Corner Lygon and Victoria Streets, Carlton – enter off Victoria Street).
Full Details here (PDF)

SYDNEY:

Date: Thursday 19th November 2009 at 6pm
Venue: Mitchell Theatre, Level 1, Sydney Mechanic School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney CBD .
Full details here (PDF).

The speakers have been organised by Aid/Watch, and are being supported by Global Trade Watch.  For further information contact: Gary Lee (Aidwatch) on (02) 95578944 or Nic Maclellan on 0421840100.

UPDATE:

There’s also a meeting in Canberra:

Date: Tuesday 17 November 2009 at 6pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre, Manning Clark Centre, Australian National University
Full details here (PDF)

Professor Frank Garcia from the Law Faculty, Boston College; Director, Law & Justice in the Americas Program will be speaking on “The Doha Round and its implications (success or failure) for developing countries”

The Doha Development Round, the current trade negotiation round of the World Trade Organization Negotiations, commenced in 2001. The aim of the negotiations is to lower the trade barriers around the world, allowing for an increase in global trade. These negotiations were frustrated by differing opinions on the effects the proposed provisions will have on developed and developing countries. Professor Garcia will speak about the implications of the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations for people in developing countries, with a focus on the impact that negotiations will have on human rights.

Professor Frank Garcia has been a member of the Boston College Law Faculty since 2001. He earned his B.A. in Religious Studies from Reed College in 1985 and his J.D. from the University Of Michigan Law School in 1989. Professor Garcia was a Fulbright Scholar and professorial fellow at the Law Institute of the Americas, SMU School of Law, and is the Associate Director of the Caribbean Law Institute, at Florida State University College of Law. Professor Garcia has researched and published widely in the field of international trade, focusing on the theoretical, practical, human rights and social issues underpinning international trade and globalisation. His recent work, focussing on the ‘fairness’ of international trade regimes and publications include “Trade-Based Strategies for Combating Child Labor”, “Protecting the Human Rights Principle in a Globalizing Economy”, and “Why Trade Law Needs a Theory of Justice”.

Venue:  Monash University Law Chambers,  472 Bourke Street, Melbourne.
RSVP:  castan.centre@law.monash.edu.au; 9905 3327

The course will run in Melbourne (Carlton) on Monday evenings from April 14 to June 15 2009.

Understanding Globalisation is a 10-week course which examines the agreements, institutions and philosophies of the global economic system in an approachable, easy-to-follow way. Taking an Australian and global perspective, Understanding Globalisation will bring together 15 Australian and international experts in politics, economics and development to support participants in exploring the complexities of globalisation.

Through lectures, workshops and other activities, the course examines the relationships between the global economy and the current global financial, food and climate crises and equips participants to track future developments in globalisation and the global economic system.

For more information, download an information booklet and application form here or apply online now.

Please email us if you have any questions about the course.

Speakers include: Professor Frank Stilwell (University of Sydney-Political Economy), Professor Jane Kelsey (University of Auckland – Law/Trade/Globalisation) & others.

When: 28th March 10am – 4pm

Where: Amnesty International, Level 1, 79 Myrtle St, Chippendale

Cost: $15 (student/concession) $25 (waged) $40 (passionate) – Some fee waivers available.

Tea and coffee will be provided. BYO lunch.

To confirm your place, contact campaign@aftinet.org.au or lara@aidwatch.org.au by Monday 16 March.

PROGRAM

10:00 – Registration

10:30 – 11:15

Basic Rundown on Economic Theory – What are the fundamentals behind contemporary economics? What are the differences between the predominant economic theories? What are the shortfalls of these theories?

11:20 – 12:05

Neo-liberalism 101 – A more detailed look into what neo-liberalism is and what its impacts are in the real world. From sweatshops to financial crises, is neo-liberalism on the decline?

12:10 – 1:05

Global Resistance and Alternatives – A look at what is the global justice movement and what alternatives exist how the opposition to capitalism/neo-liberalism exists. What role has fair trade and protests played in this?

LUNCH 1:05 – 1:40

1:40 – 2:25

Capitalism/Global Social Democracy – Global Financial Crisis and its impacts on economics, is capitalism dead, or will it just be nicer?

2:30 – 3:15

Australia’s Policies – How do Australia’s aid and trade policies reinforce current economic inequalities and pre-configure what ‘development’ means? What impacts are these policies having on Australia and other countries?

3:20 – 3:45

What you can do? – A discussion about what’s going on and what you can do to work towards an economically, socially and environmentally just future!

Apparently the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been trying to undermine the Rudd Government’s election promises to require “disclosure at point-of-sale of species, country of origin and any certification” and “identifying illegally-logged timber and restrict its import into Australia”.

The article also quotes Alan Oxley, who runs Melbourne-based consultancy ITS Global, and is known far and wide for his work organising conferences to promote the denial of climate change, lobbying on behalf of Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau (implicated in widespead illegal logging & human rights abuses in PNG) and for setting up a business lobby group for the US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. (Follow the above links to pages from Sourcewatch, and online watchdog which has some good background on Oxley & his company.)

If you’re reading this and would like to do something, please consider emailing Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or emailing or phoning – (02) 6277 7500 – Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and demanding that they commit to fulfilling their election promise to restrict imports of illegally logged timber into Australia.

Instead of an exclusive meeting of only 20 countries, hundreds of civil society and citizens organisations from around the world are demanding a democratic, inclusive process that doesn’t see us heading down the same path we’ve been on to disaster.  It’s time for a radically different economic system which reduces inequality, creates jobs, puts people before profit, ensures a sustainable environment, and puts eradicating poverty at its heart. We need a ‘green new deal’ that will revolutionise the economy.

Global Trade Watch has been working with Jubilee Australia and the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network to build a new website at http://www.globalaction.org.au, with information for Australians about the global day of action on Saturday, and actions you can take to make your voice heard. Check it out.