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Australia

Google could use ISDS to sue Australia for millions over regulation for payment of news content
9-Feb-2021 AFTINET
Google’s Singapore subsidiary could use a controversial ISDS provision in the Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement to demand millions in compensation over proposed Australian regulation for payment of news content.
Australia has a great chance to engage in trade diplomacy with China, and it must take it
9-Feb-2021 The Conversation
Australia’s efforts to end a diplomatic deep freeze with China may not be getting anywhere fast on the surface, but there are nonetheless some signs of a potential thaw.
How Google could sue Australia for billions
4-Feb-2021 Australian Financial Review
Google and Facebook could sue the government for billions of dollars over a proposed law to force the digital giants to pay publishers for displaying news content, by seizing on investment clauses in the Australia-Singapore trade agreement.
Australia eyes new trade deal with Israel, focusing on cyber security, innovation
3-Feb-2021 Sydney Morning Herald
Australia will turn its attention towards clinching a trade agreement with Israel. A similar feasibility study to scope the benefits of beginning trade negotiations with European Free Trade Association countries.
Drystock farmers to lose out to increased imports in EU plans for 12 trade agreements
28-Jan-2021 Irish Examiner
It is envisaged sheep meat imports from Australia and New Zealand would result in sheep prices in the EU falling by 1.9% to 3.1%.
Next round of UK, Australia trade talks set for February: source
28-Jan-2021 Reuters
The deal with Australia could be completed as soon as March, Britain’s talks with Australia being likely to conclude before similar negotiations with New Zealand and the United States.
Australia new trade minister says UK, EU trade deals priority
25-Jan-2021 Bloomberg
Minister hopes FTAs with UK, EU will be finalised this year.
Prospects for an Australia–India trade deal
25-Jan-2021 East Asia Forum
Negotiations on the Australia–India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) are set to restart after being suspended in 2015. Australia’s new Minister for Trade Dan Tehan has flagged that a trade deal with India will be one of his top priorities.
US attacks Australia’s ’extraordinary’ plan to make Google and Facebook pay for news
19-Jan-2021 The Guardian
The US has said the proposed legislation could run counter to the US-Australia free trade agreement.
Clive Palmer could seek ’unquantifiable’ commonwealth compensation under Singapore free trade deal
18-Dec-2020 The Guardian
Australian taxpayers could be on the hook for compensation following a dispute between the Western Australian government and Clive Palmer’s Mineralogy, federal budget papers reveal.
Trade deal with China was always useless, despite what our leaders wish us to believe
30-Nov-2020 Crikey
Such bilateral trade agreements produce little economic benefit — and certainly nothing like the absurd claims made for them by politicians.
RCEP has limited trade gains and ignores labour and human rights
30-Nov-2020 Australian Institute of International Affairs
Australia’s recent signature of the RCEP has attracted world attention for its significance in consolidating Asia-Pacific geopolitical relations. But in celebrating this agreement, we seem to have forgotten its unfinished business regarding labour and human rights.
PACER Plus: the case against
25-Nov-2020 Devpolicy Blog
For the Pacific Island Countries, PACER Plus represents a squandered opportunity to address the real development needs of the region and a waste of time and significant resources.
Reko Diq Case: NAB unearths corruption to the tune of billions
5-Nov-2020 Business Recorder
National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Balochistan has collected irrefutable evidence revealing that billions of rupees have been lost to the national exchequer in the Reko Diq project after the bureau scrutinized its 30-year record.
Australia calls for China to ’play by the rules’ after reports of multibillion-dollar trade bans
4-Nov-2020 The Guardian
The Morrison government has called on China to come clean on whether a range of Australian export sectors worth billions of dollars a year will face new curbs from Friday amid increasing tensions between the two countries.
Is the Pacific’s new trade deal an early Xmas gift or a double edged sword?
2-Nov-2020 RNZ
There are mixed reactions in the Pacific to a new free trade deal which comes into force in December.
Ag starts to come into focus in next round of UK trade talks
28-Oct-2020 Beef Central
Sensitive topics including agriculture are likely to start to come into greater focus in the next round of free trade agreement negotiations between the United Kingdom and Australia.
Another Australian miner sues another poor country, this time Barrick’s Porgera in PNG
27-Oct-2020 Michael West
Australian mining companies are increasingly using ISDS processes and are being awarded billions based on dubious calculations of potential lost profits by unaccountable international tribunals.
Australia says it’s ready to talk to China about their trade dispute
19-Oct-2020 CNBC
Australia wants dialogue with China to resolve their trade dispute and clear up any misunderstandings with its largest trading partner, Australian agriculture minister David Littleproud told CNBC Friday.
UK-Australia FTA needs more scrutiny and better food and environmental protections
13-Oct-2020 Trade Justice Movement
UK civil society groups respond to Liz Truss’s statement on UK-Australia trade deal negotiations.