NEWS: 7/7/02

AUSTRALIA RETURNS TO ICMICA AT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MEETING;
PREPCOM4 FOR THE WSSD, A DISAPPOINTMENT

For the first time in possibly three decades, Australia as a delegation was welcomed back to the ICMICA world-wide movement during their Asia-Pacific Advocacy Workshop, organised to coincide with the fourth and final session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom 4) meeting of WSSD from 27 May to 7 June 2002, in Bali, Indonesia.

The ACMICA delegation, which included Minh Nguyen, Rachel Galea and Bill Neville, made significant contribution towards this meeting and its outcome, and had undoubtedly brought Australia closer to full membership in the ICMICA community.

The Workshop was attended by over seventy delegates from eleven country members of ICMICA. Some of the issues raised included climate change, corporate accountability, and indigenous peoples' land rights and self-determination.

ACMICA's intervention at the Workshop pointed to the state of sustainable development in Australia, and criticised in particular the Australian Government's market fanaticism and lack of real commitment to the greenhouse and corporate accountability questions.

These interventions and workshops feed into a final document known as the "Bali Declaration." Minh, who was on the drafting committee for the Bali Declaration, said that the document attempted to articulate the concerns of delegates vis-a-vis human rights and development in the Asia-Pacific region, and will be used to lobby at the Johannesburg WSSD (Rio+10).

Following the Workshop Minh remained in Bali to observe the UN PrepCom 4 meeting and had the opportunity to meet and discuss issues with the Australian Minister for the Environment, Dr David Kemp.

Made clear at this meeting was Australia's agenda to undermine attempts to regulate multinational corporations, and their resolve to remove any traces of time targets in the Chairman's Text, an action plan and supposed basis for implementing sustainable development principles.

Australia's ruthless pursuit of corporate interests and their eagerness to put free trade above poor people and the environment was embarrassing to watch. Perhaps the only thing more embarrassing was the justification.

"Dr Kemp is a market fundamentalist. He was serious when he asked us to put more faith in consumers' 'votes' in regulating corporate environmental behaviours. Of course, in his dream world there are no issues of monopoly, consumer awareness and branding. His dream world also ignores the reality of corporate practices since Rio's Earth Summit. For an educated man, his explanation sounds more like something from a year 7 economics text book," Minh said.