What a surprise!
The government makes noises about rolling over on the drugs patents issue.
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson hinted the government might accept Labor's free trade agreement (FTA) amendments provided they caused no adverse impacts elsewhere in the economy.Mr Anderson said cabinet hadn't yet met to reconsider its position.
But asked if he agreed with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer who said the Labor amendments might be worth considering if they were innocuous, Mr Anderson replied: "We will have more to say about it during the day.
Have to admit I'm a little bemused by Alexander Downer's comments hightlighted in the last paragraph. When did he say this?
The is what he had to say on ABC radio's AM program just this morning ....
..... Mr Latham has had this idea on the run, during the course of the weekend, suddenly rushes out to the media, says this is his proposal.He hasn't thought through the consequences of what he's saying. He hadn't realised that if you implemented his proposal, as he's described it, then every single person in Australia who applies for a patent but gets that patent knocked back gets hit with a massive fine.
In which case, in which case, if people apply for patents and they get hit with massive fines, they're not going to apply for patents at all. That will destroy the intellectual property regime we have in this county.
He really said this! I can't figure out if Downer is stupid or he just thinks we are. Alex, Labor's amendments are to do with companies who try to extend existing patents, not register new ones.
Have to admit that seeing the government squirm on this issue is most enjoyable. We all know that they'll have to back down, but it is surprising that it's happening so soon.
