Preliminary pages

Membership of the Committee

 

Chair	Mr Kelvin Thomson MP
Deputy Chair	Senator Bridget McKenzie (from 12/9/12)
	Senator Simon Birmingham (until 12/9/12)
Members	Mr Jamie Briggs MP (until 9/10/12)	Senator David Fawcett
	Mr Laurie Ferguson MP (until 20/9/12)	Senator Scott Ludlam
	Mr John Forrest MP	Senator the Hon Lisa Singh
	Ms Sharon Grierson MP	Senator Dean Smith
	Mr Harry Jenkins MP	Senator Matthew Thistlethwaite
	Ms Kirsten Livermore MP	Senator the Hon Lin Thorp
	The Hon Robert McClelland MP (from 20/9/12)
	Ms Melissa Parke MP
	Mrs Jane Prentice MP (from 9/10/12)
	The Hon Dr Sharman Stone MP

Committee Secretariat

Secretary	Russell Chafer
Inquiry Secretaries	Kevin Bodel
	Dr Andrew Gaczol
Administrative Officers	Heidi Luschtinetz
	Dorota Cooley

Resolution of Appointment

The Resolution of Appointment of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties allows it to inquire into and report on:

1. matters arising from treaties and related National Interest Analyses and proposed treaty actions and related Explanatory Statements presented or deemed to be presented to the Parliament;
2. any question relating to a treaty or other international instrument, whether or not negotiated to completion, referred to the committee by:

1. either House of the Parliament, or
2. a Minister; and

3. such other matters as may be referred to the committee by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and on such conditions as the Minister may prescribe.
   

List of recommendations

4 Conclusion

Recommendation 1

That prior to commencing negotiations for a new agreement, the Government table in Parliament a document setting out its priorities and objectives including independent analysis of the anticipated costs and benefits of the agreement.  Such analysis should be reflected in the National Interest Analysis accompanying the treaty text.

Recommendation 2

That after 24 months of the treaty coming into effect, an independent review of MAFTA be conducted to assess actual outcomes of the treaty against the claimed benefits and potential negative consequences noted in this report.  The review should consider the economic, regional, social, cultural, regulatory, labour and environmental impacts.  Such a review should serve as a model for future free trade agreements.

Recommendation 3

The Committee supports the Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement done at Kuala Lumpur on 22 May 2012 and recommends that binding treaty action be taken.