“Design depends largely on constraints.” — Charles Eames
Monday, 9 February 2004
In the same week that Melbourne is yet again called the most liveable city in the world (a regular occurrence), John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, has negotiated a free-trade agreement that allows US businesses to invest as if it were just another state in the union.
The effects will be felt widely and for a long time; Australia has been moving more towards the States every year, and not in a good way. In combination with the effects of the GST, this will likely mean that the things that make Melbourne (and Australia) special are all the more likely to disappear.
It’s hard to underestimate the importance of small businesses to Australian culture; whether it’s the corner milk bar, butcher, computer shop or news agent. All of this is the antithesis of the American big-box Walmart retail and subdivision model, and they’ll wither in competition with American mega-corporations; there soon won’t be any choice but to work for and buy from them, and it’ll drastically change the Australian way of life.
I’ve always said that Australians didn’t know how good they had it; now they will, unfortunately.
UPDATE: see also a more detailed explanation (PDF, page 2) of the new foreign investment rules and some of their effects at HSBC Australia research.
Filed under: Politics
In the infamous words of Winston in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, "We're being fucked."
Monday, February 9 2004 at 10:59 AM +10:00
I'm no fan of WalMart or big retail stores, but isn't it a little presumptious of you to think that Australians like the smaller shops better than the larger ones?
This is truly one case where the market will decide. There's nothing like letting people vote with their money. If Mega-Lo-Mart goes bankrupt, then you'll be right. But if they do quite well, then who are you to dismiss the will of the people?
Monday, February 9 2004 at 7:18 PM +10:00
Well, I lived there for four years, and intend to call it home again, and I like them better. My wife is Australian, and she does. So do all of our Australian friends. I believe that most polls of Australians will show similar concerns (although I don’t have any to reference at the moment).
I’m extremely wary of arguments whose basis are “the market will work it out;” whilst it’s true that a pure market will eventually find the most efficient result, no-one’s yet found a perfect market, and in the meantime, a lot of destruction can happen. This is especially true when the rules are bent by — or written for — those who have large amounts of capital at their disposal.
Monday, February 9 2004 at 8:22 PM +10:00
"The market will work it out" is the greatest excuse that consistently gets rolled out by US capitalists. It's crap. The bottom line is that the natural conclusion of an unfettered capitalist society -- which the US is normally, and especially under Bush and his cronies -- is that one person ends up owning everything. It's pure darwinism. And make no mistake, the USA is a very pure capitalist society wrapped in the clothing of a democracy. The role of government is (supposed to be) to balance the rights of the individual (or business) against the rights of others, and to ensure that those without power are not unduly discriminated against. Without government invervention, "the market will work it out" is a joke. Worse, in the case of W, the government intervenes on behalf of its cronies, exacerbating the problem.
As to the FTA, it's an awful lot like an elephant having sex with a mouse. The USA enters into these bi-lateral agreements with "allies" in order to avoid being called to account by multi-lateral agreements where the playing field must, by definition, be more level. Australia is about to be raped by the USA as special interests buy up our resources (you can buy a lot for $800M) and *then* relax their trade barriers. Alas, our prime minister is such a sycophant that he's blind to the interests of the country.
-g.
Tuesday, February 17 2004 at 5:01 AM +10:00
http://www.ironyparty.org/pamphlet
The Irony Party of Australia's electronic pamphlet
Friday, January 6 2006 at 7:52 PM +10:00