Carnell Outburst In Sympathy With Free Trade Absolutists

Wayne Berry - Member for Ginninderra

Media Statement - 3 August 2000

Yesterday ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell launched a desperate attack on the Labor Party and MLA Wayne Berry over their support for fair trade as a means of defending Australian jobs.

"Kate Carnell's outburst on fair trade signals her sympathy to the free trade absolutists who accept that entrenched poverty, Dickensian working conditions and child and slave labour are costs that are worth paying for free trade," Mr Berry said.

"How can the Chief Minister give comfort to the despotic regimes that sentence their citizens to pitiful lifetimes of drudgery and oppression - all in the name of free trade!

"The difference between Kate Carnell's view of the world and mine is that I want workers of all nations involved in a race to the top of social conditions and the Chief Minister wants to sentence Australian workers to a race to the bottom.

"Unlike Kate Carnell, Labor's debate at its National Conference in Hobart has recognised that 'there is an obligation on the WTO (World Trade Organisation) to consider the impact of trade on core labour standards' (ALP Platform, chapter 5, adopted at ALP 2000 Conference).

"I am confident that a Beazley led Australian Government will seek to support these standards in international forums.