By allowing social issues into the WTO agenda using tenuous links to trade policy, the WTO Council has placed the organisation at the vanguard of political skirmishing over globalisation.

The accusations levelled at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in Seattle last November and Davos in February, show that protesters (predominantly NGOs, such as trade unions) have little idea of what the WTO is all about. In addition, NGOs have lobbied the WTO on environmental and social issues which have little to do with its core objective, leading to a watering down of the WTO mission – a situation which could have serious ramifications for trading nations like Australia. The WTO is no longer a simple trade contract.

One of the great lessons of the 20th century is that liberal trade promotes prosperity.  Meddling with the principles of free trade can easily trigger economic stagnation and the cataclysms that follow from economic despair.

Speakers at the WEF in Melbourne should emphasise the benefits of globalisation.

As a medium-sized OECD economy with little bargaining power, Australia’s participation in a strong WTO and an increasingly integrated global economy provides support for international independence and should not be sacrificed to lobbying NGOs.

David Robertson is John Gough Professor and Director at the Centre for the Practice of International Trade, Melbourne Business School. He is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board of The Centre for Independent Studies.