When our leaders and politicians sign us up to these global accords, declarations and agreements, do they realise what the consequences will be?
Decades on, their moment in the sun and on the front page can have far reaching consequences.
One little known, but very impactive decision is now showing us just how damaging these signatures can be.
Nearly 50 years ago, Australia signed up to the Lima Declaration.
In 1975, Labor Senator Don Willesee signed us up to this strange thing in Peru - hence its name " The Lima Declaration. " He was acting in his role of Special Minister of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Whitlam Government.
In March 1975, the Second General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) met in Lima, Peru. The Third World wouldn't apparently stand a chance of going head to head with more developed nations so it was decided that we needed to give them a nudge and a bit of help by stuffing our own industrial bases.
Industrial resources from advanced countries like Australia should be sent to the Third World, thus providing markets for Third World exports by buying products once produced locally. In other words, send our resources to other emerging nations and let them manufacture goods using our riches and we would them buy them back at value added prices.
The Lima Declaration set in motion a process that would carry on through the Fraser, Hawke and Keating years and was marketed to the Australian public as internationalising our economy.
Lucky us.
Our farmers and agricultural sector have suffered because of our benevolence. Our car industry and steel industry are gone.
In 1970 estimates numbered Australian farmers at around 300,000, the number is now less than 125,000.
You see, the reasoning behind this agreement was that the lucky countries like Australia should spread the love and we could create what was known as a New World Economic Order.
A call for change was made in March 1975 when the Second General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), meeting in Lima, issued a Declaration and World Plan of Action.
Resolution 27 "Developed Countries such as Australia should expand it’s imports from developing countries."
Resolution 35 "Developed Countries (Australia) should transfer technical, financial, and capital goods to developing countries to accomplish resolution 28 above."
Resolution 41 “That the developed countries should adhere strictly to the principle that the Generalised System of Preferences must not be used as an instrument for economic and political pressure to hamper the activities of those developing countries which produce raw materials”
Reolution 43 “That the developing countries should fully and effectively participate in the international decision making process on international monetary questions in accordance with the existing and evolving rules of the competent bodies and share equitably in the benefits resulting therefrom”
Resolution 52 “That the developing countries should devote particular attention to the development of basic industries such as steel, chemicals, petro chemicals and engineering, thereby consolidating their economic independence while at the same time assuring an effective form of import substitution and a greater share of world trade”.
What possible advantage is there in signing up to economic suicide? Why are we still part of this United Nations backed self destruction?
Yet, here we are, nearly 50 years later, still signing these agreements, accords and declarations which are so blatantly self harming?
Since then, we have signed up to the disastrous Paris Accord. But that is another horror show that demands and deserves its own explanation.
Surely it is time that Australians are not signed up to these agreements without a referendum?
When I first published this article, a poster put up a comment which I transcribe in full.
During the last 23 years or so of my working career I was a senior manufacturing industry executive, the final 12 years before taking an early retirement, my decision and related to an employment contract, I was managing director reporting to a publicly listed company board of directors who were high profile members of very well know company boards and were high achievers in business.
The company I managed was profitable, consistently delivering three times industry average profits based on Dun & Bradstreet company profiles. The holding company owned it for over 20 years but decided to sell the shares and business to realise a substantial capital gain on investment for reinvestment but not in manufacturing.
I was given the opportunity to participate in a management buyout with assistance and the full support of the board. After all it was a very profitable company that remained profitable during the Keating Labor recession of 1990 and years thereafter.
Together with the senior managers I put together a business plan that revealed what I had long worried about, the end of manufacturing in Australia was not many years away, with some exceptions. The UN Lima Declaration was undermining our competitiveness and various other UN treaties and agreements were nailing down the lid on the coffin. Like UN Agenda 21 - Sustainability effectively locking up natural resources in National Parks, former State lands and more. Kyoto Japan Agreement on lowering emissions (back then greenhouse gas emissions were talked about, "carbon pollution" or more correctly carbon dioxide was not.
The UN treaties and agreements were signed by the Federal Government and reinforced via State/Territory legislation, regulations and of course compliance costs for businesses, the blue, red, green and black tape bureaucracy handcuffs. Globalism, developing nations so called such as China favoured, developed nations such as Australia penalised and national prosperity growth restricted, national security compromised.
And I cannot recall one union speaking out against the Whitlam Labor signing of the Lima Declaration/Protocol/Agreement despite the obvious future losses of jobs for union members and other Australians.
So called renewable energy is another debacle costing this nation a high price of electricity resulting in cost of living rising and businesses being handicapped, the company I managed had massive machinery and high electricity demand, we had our own dedicated electricity sub-station outside the property and a very large Diesel engine powered generator for emergencies. The new rising cost of electricity was not a factor in my business plan.
The board of directors and the management buyout specialist firm they organised to assist us were shocked when I advised that the buyout would not proceed. I explained that short term profits would continue but eventually the cost of removing the machinery from the factories and making repairs would cost millions of dollars and the business would need to become an importer of products to warehouse and distribute, and that would have cancelled out one of the main profit advantages we had which was manufacturing to order for at least half of our sales.
So I was employed on contract by the foreign company that acquired the business and I decided that I would prefer a quality of life while young retirement to dealing with International business politics and BS generally and gave notice after the minimum period of employment I had agreed to provide. I was asked to remain on full remuneration for six more months as a consultant and I agreed.
Put into perspective, and the motor industry is a perfect example, manufacturing cost effectively relies on economies of scale, in other words the more items produced the lower the per item cost. The several motor vehicle manufacturers that set up in Australia all pulled out eventually, Ford, GMH and Toyota were the last. Add to their problems industrial relations or union issues, a poor work ethic among employees, and more, and that Australians chose to buy 8 imported vehicles for every 2 Australian made vehicles. Without government fleet sales the motor industry would have closed down decades earlier.
I doubt that Australia could now become competitive enough to take on India, China, South Korea, Thailand and the other manufacturing nations but we could and do produce specialised products, military for example. But we need reliable and cheap electricity, removal of all or most of the bureaucratic tape, various other improvements and politicians who are patriots with the best interests of Australians and our nation upper most in their minds.
They are available, Australians in the majority gather around the centre of the political spectrum or lean sightly left or right of the centre. Put them together, regardless of their political party now, and form an alliance of can do people who thrive on public service and have the intelligence to take advice from professionals, for example, no more wind and solar fairy tales, they are unreliable, intermittent energy sources, require considerable expensive back up generators and support and therefore cannot on a level playing field compete with power station generators.
Free market capitalism must be the basis for economic growth and prosperity, no governments picking the winners and losers, let the markets decide.... BK 2021
Well, haven't we reaped the so called " benefits " of this? No wonder people are becoming angry. Especially when we have pathetic, short sighted politicians making these ridiculous decisions. I have to wonder if the only beneficiaries of this have been the multinational corporations… the “developing” countries are still being exploited.
We Australians have not benefited. We have successive governments who have signed up to the death of our nation. And they are still doing it. Who is pulling their strings?
And who is wallowing in cash while our Diggers sleep in muddy graves and wonder why they bothered?
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