Globalisation and Corporate Responsibility

Usually, historically and dangerously called ‘government owned’. My personal preference is for the term ‘socially owned’.

Engels F. and Marx K. , Manifesto of the Communist Party, 1848.

Sheehan P. , ‘Governance and the Global Knowledge Economy’, in Clark C. and Corbett D. (eds), Reforming the Public Sector: Problems and Solutions, Allen & Unwin, 1999, p.231.

Hirst P. and Thompson G. , Globalization in Question, Policy Press, 2nd edn, 1999, p.2.

Ruigrok W. and van Tulder R. , The Logic of International Restructuring, Routledge, 1995, p.151.

Those interested in the concept of globalisation and who are searching for some historical context could do worse than read Trilateralism: The Trilateral Commission and Elite Planning for World Management, Sklar Holly (ed.), South End Press, Boston, 1980.

Kelsey J. , Globalisation, State and Law: Towards a ‘Multiperspectival Polity’, 50th Anniversary Conference Australasian Law Teachers' Association Cross Currents: Internationalism, National Identity and Law, 1995.

Including the delightful put-down: ‘we have no commitment to the sensibilities of postmodernism’, p.xiii.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Background Briefing, 11 November 2001.

Comprising a number of European Union countries, the United States, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Argentina and Canada.

<www.ila-nq.org/latestconf.html>.

Noor Elina , rapporteur, 69th Conference of the International Law Association, Report of Workshop 4, Regionalism and International Law, 27 July 2000.

It is important to recall that the OECD was advocating the Multi-lateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), which would have resulted in the diminution of state power, and its replacement with corporate power. The OECD was defeated by an international coalition of community, consumer and political organisations in the developed world; and developing nations. The MAI has resurfaced through the World Trade Organisation (WTO): see Goodman J. and Ranald P. , Stopping the Juggernaut: Public Interest versus the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, Pluto Press, 2000.

OECD Directorate for Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs, Private Initiatives for Corporate Responsibility: An Analysis, February, 2001, p.23 (emphasis added).

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Background Briefing, 11 November 2001.

International Organisation for Standardization, ISO looks into standards for corporate social responsibility, Press Release, 10 September 2001.

That is, charity.

Brunton Ron , wrote on 9 June 2001, ‘in many respects, HIH would have appeared as a model of social responsibility. The company was an extremely generous benefactor to a wide range of worthy causes. Most significantly — and ironically — HIH was a very substantial donor to the St James Ethics Centre, which specialises in providing advice on ethical behaviour to major corporations, encouraging them to take a maximalist view of their responsibilities to the broader society. Indeed, HIH was reported to have set the centre ‘on its financial feet’ in 1999’ (Courier Mail).

Evans Geoff , ‘Where giants tread, rumblings will follow’, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 November 2001.

Evans Geoff , above.

This is an interesting feature of the Acts, and dates from the period of the corporatisation of Sydney Water in the early 1990s when it was injected as a result of lobbying from community, consumer and environmental groups.

See Lavelle Marianne , ‘A shift in the wind on global warming: Confounding some allies, Bush talks tough’, Business & Technology, 19 March 2001.

A number of other corporations also invested heavily in environmentally benign technologies. It was these corporations, which opposed the 2nd Bush's decision to repudiate the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gas emissions.

A 31 October 2001 New York Times article by economist Paul Krugman (‘The One-Eyed Man’) said that Enron (among others) would receive ‘surprisingly big’ benefits from the USA government's financial support provided following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack in New York. Enron is not a large employer. Another company on the gift list is Texas Utilities (TXU), which is now part of the Australian energy industry.

<www.psiru.org/news/4261.htm>.

<www.psiru.org/news/4261.htm>.

New York Times, 25 April 2001.

<www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/010319/warming.htm>, 19 March 2001 (date posted).

Revkin Andrew C. and Banerjee Neela , ‘Energy Executives Urge Some Gas-Emission Limits on Bush’.

<www.ei.enron.com/presence/projects/india.htm>, 27 April 2001 (date accessed). Enron is also involved in the Gas Authority of India (GAIL) which was privatised in November 1999.

1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: ‘India’, released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State, 25 February 2000.

Enron toughens stand on Enron, Economictimes.com Bureau, 4 May 2001.

above, ref 32.

above, ref 32.

Ayres Chris , ‘Enron to pull out of Indian project’, The Times, 6 November 2001.

Berenson Alex , ‘SEC Opens Investigation into Enron’, New York Times, 1 November 2001.

Gerth Jeff , ‘Regulators Struggle with a Marketplace Created by Enron’, New York Times, 10 November 2001.

Tomlinson Heather , ‘Wessex Water “to be sold”’, Independent, 18 November 2001.