The real agenda

Overshadowed by George W Bush, the US Trade Representative is in Sydney today. She is one of the people driving the real agenda.

The agenda of APEC is to implement trade liberalisation- zero trade barriers in the Developed World by 2010, zero trade barriers in the Developing World by 2020. At each APEC meeting, countries must file reports on their progress in corporatising and privatising and deregulating their health, education, knowledge, environments, financial sector etc.

Yet much of this information slips between the cracks and never gets heard.

What we do hear is a distortion of the reality. An article in today's Sydney Morning Herald- from a speech to APEC- is so hypocritical -once you know the real story- it is beyond belief.

Appearing to be supporting the public sector, this article is entitled "Good public sector institutions essential for growth". But upon closer scrutiny, it is actually just a whitewash. It is promoting "well managed, accountable and ethical public institutions".

Yet APEC's policies of privatisation and deregulation, promoted through its acceleration of bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations -has crippled public institutions and their funding bases worldwide.

In this context, the call for ethical and effective practice is a mere platitude.