Doing it properly

The government announced today that they had concluded a four-way free trade agreement with Singapore, Chile, and Brunei, covering both trade in goods and services. I think this is a good thing, and all the moreso because it has been done properly. Our core public services such as health, education and welfare are excluded - meaning that the agreement can not be used as a "back door" to undermine public provision. There's a binding environmental agreement, which while general, commits each country to "pursue high levels of environmental protection" and affirms that it is not acceptable to undermine environmental protections to pander to business. More importantly, there's also a binding labour agreement in which each party affirms their commitment to the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, which confirms the bedrock principles of the right to collective bargaining, the elimination of forced and child labour, and the elimination of discrimination. Both agreements include regular meetings with NGO involvement - though the CTU (while generally supportive) is concerned that it does not automatically allow unions to complain about breaches of labour standards (they would have to be accreddited by their own government in order to do so). Still, it is legally binding, and covers the essentials, while allowing each government to set their own policies.

OK, so I don't expect those who oppose free trade in principle to be happy, but if you are cautiously supportive, but concerned about human rights, the environment, and basic labour standards, then this is an acceptable deal.