Customs Amendment (Growing Australian Export Opportunities Across the Asia-Pacific) Bill 2019

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Melbourne MP Adam Bandt (Greens), which means it failed. The amendment related to the ISDS clauses in the Customs Amendment (Growing Australian Export Opportunities Across the Asia-Pacific) Bill 2019.

Adam Bandt explained that:

This amendment deals with the very pernicious clauses that are in these agreements that give corporations the right to sue governments. People may not be aware of what is in these clauses. They sometimes go by the technical name of 'ISDS clauses' but they have very, very real impacts. Because these so-called free trade agreements have effectively been written by big corporations with their representatives in the Liberal Party and endorsed by the Labor Party, these agreements give corporations the right to prosecute and sue governments when governments have the temerity to pass laws that are in the interests of the wellbeing of their own citizens.