2004/07/28 Minister Defence - Senators' Duty to examine concerns for Australian Security
2004/07/28 Senator BRANDIS - Senators' Duty to examine concerns "Hidden Agenda" costs for SMEsThe most striking aspect of all the documentation produced on the Australian - United States Free Trade Agreement [Aus-USA-FTA] is how sparse the information is on Chapter 16: Electronic Commerce. On the 24 Mar 2004 the National Interest Analysis [NIA] stated that the "Economic Gains would be significant". However it warned "The specific rales {sic} and procedures required by the Government Procurement Chapter will impose costs both in terms of central administration and in the conduct of tender processes". These costs have not been quantified in any of the reports. At the 2nd Reading of the Bill in the Australian House of Representatives in Canberra on 23 Jun 2004 all the Government speakers stated US Government Procurement is a major benefit for Australia with access to the US$ 200 Billion Federal Government Procurement and $ 200 Billion State Government Procurement there is little if any mention of Electronic Commerce standards that should be used by Federal and State Government entities that wish to engage in the FTA. As Senator LUNDY said in her presentation on Thu 24 Jun "there is a conspiracy to push the FTA through with as little Public debate as possible". This site has been developed to provide links to various pdf files which have been converted to html for fast access for the Public to review. C GOVERNMENT REPORTS ON AUS-USA-FTA b The Senate Inquiry is due to submit its report on Thu 12 Aug 2004 a Government Inquiries B OIC SEMINARS b 2004/07/01 Melbourne a 2004/06/24 Sydney A SUBMISSIONS BY OIC XML & E-COMMERCE ZIG a 2004/04/30 1st Submission on 30 Apr 2004
