That's it for today, thanks for reading
Here are the main stories on Thursday, 2 May:
The final arguments in the Mehreen Faruqi v Pauline Hanson case were heard in the federal court;
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, lashed the opposition for calling her “nasty” during a heated question time and said it did not demonstrate leadership in terms of respect for women;
Bonza passengers will remain in limbo as planes remain grounded;
Robert Farquharson, who was convicted of murdering his three sons in Victoria, plans to launch a new appeal;
Woolworths records a worse-than-expected March quarter financial results;
The NSW cybercrime squad is investigating an alleged data breach affecting more than one million club and pub patrons; and
Two Australian brothers have been reported missing in Mexico.
We look forward to seeing you here for more news tomorrow.
Updated
Parliamentary report calls for new law enshrining trade principles
The Australian government should enshrine in law some key principles for negotiating trade agreements, according to a new report from the parliamentary joint standing committee on trade and investment growth.
The report stems from a request made by the trade minister, Don Farrell, shortly before Labor held its national conference in Brisbane last August. He asked the committee to conduct an inquiry into the process for negotiating trade deals. Unions have long been critical of key parts in the process, including the lack of legislated safeguards and transparency before free trade agreements are signed.
The committee, chaired by Labor MP Steve Georganas, has made eight recommendations that it argued would “strengthen Australia’s approach to negotiating trade and investment agreements, contributing to better outcomes and ensuring that agreements are of greatest benefit to the Australian community”.
These recommendations include that the Australian government “require an independent review, including modelling and analysis, to be undertaken on each proposed or under review trade and investment agreement”. Australia should “seek to include human rights, labour and environmental chapters in its trade agreements” and should “seek to not include provisions in trade and investment agreements that waive labour market and skills testing or include investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions”.
ISDS provisions are controversial because of the potential for foreign investors to sue Australia over the impact of policy decisions.
The committee also called on the government to “establish a legislative framework for the negotiation of Australia’s trade and investment agreements” - a recommendation that could be contentious because of the potential to bind future Coalition governments.
The final report said elements of the process for negotiating trade deals, including stakeholder consultation and reviews of its impact, could be enshrined in law.
It said it would not be appropriate to be “highly prescriptive in ruling certain provisions in or out of future trade and investment agreements” but there were “certain exceptional commitments that are fundamental to the public interest that could be appropriately enshrined in a legislative framework”. That could include “broad principles in relation to maintaining consistency with international rights and standards, and retaining the ability to regulate in the public interest across key policy areas”.
