A former investment treaty between India and Australia allows for a legal claim if the mine doesn’t go ahead, but this shouldn’t deter a federal government, says a UNSW Law researcher.
Instead of categorically dismissing ISDS, the IACEPA clarifies the protection that the States are willing to grant to investors; and procedural rules that they are willing to adopt.
Detailed scrutiny of the text of the recent Indonesia trade deal has revealed that there are no provisions to cancel the old 1993 Indonesia-Australia bilateral investment agreement.
The Australian mining company Kingsgate Consolidated, armed with a US$55-million insurance payout for the closure of its gold mine in Thailand, says it now has the financial means to pursue its arbitration case against the Thai government.
Philip Morris, a US company, moved ownership of its Australian operations to Hong Kong to take advantage of ISDS in an Australia-Hong Kong investment treaty.
The Australia-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement and separate Investment Agreement signed still give special rights to foreign investors to bypass national courts and sue governments for millions of dollars in international tribunals