By Kylie Moon and Chris Atkinson
Since the November 1999 “siege of Seattle” a new movement has come
onto the world stage, the movement against corporate globalisation. This
was sparked by the victory in Seattle of stopping a new round of trade
negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting. The movement
has united tens of thousands of people across the globe as they have mobilised
on the streets to voice opposition to the pro-profit agenda of the ruling
capitalist elites.
Resistance activists throughout the country are gearing up for the next
major target in Australia, the October Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting (CHOGM) in Brisbane and, just before it, the associated meeting
of the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in Melbourne.
Activists are planning mass protests in both cities. Resistance will
be organising people to converge on Melbourne and Brisbane to protest at
these meetings.
The CBF, run by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), is on October
3-5. Its literature boasts that it seeks “to involve the private sector
in the promotion of international trade and investment”. The CBC makes
no secret that it “works with the World Trade Organisation towards the
removal of barriers to trade and fair access to markets and investments”.
CHOGM will be held in Brisbane immediately after the CBF meeting and
will bring together the leaders of 54 countries from the former British
Empire. CHOGM has always been dominated by four of its five imperialist
powers: Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. (South Africa, which
dominates southern Africa in much the same way as Australia and New Zealand
economically and politically dominates the Pacific islands, has only rejoined
the Commonwealth relatively recently.)
CHOGM is used by these powers to further their investment and business
opportunities across the globe. When he was British foreign minister, Malcolm
Rifkind described the Commonwealth as a “priceless asset” which provides
a “unique entry point for Britain across five continents”.
One of the meeting's aims will be to gain support for the new WTO trade
round. Around 40% of countries who are members of the WTO will be participating
in the CHOGM meeting.
The future of the majority of people on the planet, and the sustainability
of our environment, are determined by the decisions that bodies like the
CBF and CHOGM make. They design the rules and they make the decisions to
further the legalised robbery of wealth from the Third World by the First
World.
No new trade round
The new trade round that the WTO meeting in November will seek to push
through includes:
-
enforcing privatisation of essential services like water and electricity
through the extension of the General Agreement on Trades in Services (GATS);
-
further undermining basic workers' rights and environmental protection
standards;
-
creating a global “free” trade regime;
-
extending the scope of corporations' ability to buy and sell “intellectual
property” and patents; and
-
tightening the chains of third world debt.
The extension of GATS will have a devastating impact on the economies of
the Third World. Poor countries will be forced to sell basic services to
big Western multinationals. Countries which renege on the agreement will
be punished.
The First World governments and the corporate elite that call the shots
in the World Trade Organisation will attempt to reverse the victory won
in Seattle by relaunching a new round of free trade “negotiations” at its
meeting in November in Qatar, a country where protests are illegal.
We need to defend the victory of Seattle. A new WTO round would have
a disastrous impact on workers, the poor and the environment everywhere,
particularly in the Third World. It will mean the further bleeding of wealth
from the Third World to wealthy First World countries. We demand that the
Australian government stop bullying poor countries into signing on to a
new WTO round and instead call for it to be boycotted altogether.
The militant, mass actions at CHOGM will be an important test of strength
for the anti-corporate movement. Resistance is organising to help ensure
that the largest number of people mobilise for both the CBF and CHOGM.
We want to demonstrate that there are two visions on offer: inside the
CBF and CHOGM will be the corporate globalisers, whose vision is of a world
in which they are free to rob, cheat and plunder; outside on the streets
will be the anti-corporate movement, with a vision of social justice, equality,
democracy and human solidarity.
Massive and successful protests in Australia in October will show that
it's our side that is winning and time is running out for the corporate
globalisers.
Protest CHOGM and CBF!
Activists from Melbourne have called for a mass, non-violent blockade of
the CBF venue at the Hilton Hotel from October 3-5. In Brisbane, activists
are planning a people's march to CHOGM along with other acts of civil disobedience
on October 6.
In its call to action, the Melbourne alliance declared:
“We intend that this act of mass civil disobedience will strengthen
the will and determination of all those around the world who are struggling
for global justice. The whole world will be watching.”
[Visit the Resistance web site at <http://www.resistance.org.au>
to stay in touch with protest preparations.]
