Under free trade agreements Australia is forced to import meat from Argentina, which has foot and mouth disease, salmon from Canada which could infect our infant Aqua farming industry and fruit and vegetables from Asia with all its exotic diseases. Under free trade agreements entered into by the Liberals, Australia has no right to penalise multinational companies which buy up Australian brands and then import bad copies from overseas. But Russia and China can halt the import of kangaroo meat with impunity. Russia can also make unreasonable demands. These free trade deals seem pretty one sided to me.
I think it’s about time that Australia showed the rest of the world that they play fast and loose with us at their peril. What we should do is stop all exports and all aid to countries which don’t allow Australia free access to their markets. If that doesn’t make them change their ways, we ban all imports from the offending countries. If they still persist in being obstinate, we confiscate all Australian assets belonging to companies from the offending countries. I guarantee that that will pull these countries into gear!
Or does free trade mean our trading partners are free to screw Australia into ruin?
Frank Brown
