For the past decade, the United States has topped the “league tables” in foreign direct investment in Australia. The enormous investment flow has spanned multiple industry sectors and geographic locations. As a global law firm with substantial deployments in both countries, we at K&L Gates take great pride in the strength of the economic ties between the US and Australia.
Beyond these economic bonds, we also reflect upon our nations’ shared belief in the Rule of Law. Both societies believe passionately in fair and open systems of justice and in values that honour individual rights and economic freedom. Our joint commitment to free enterprise as central to the efficient allocation of resources and economic growth could not exist absent the Rule of Law. Caprice -- the mortal enemy of the Rule of Law -- undermines both individual and economic freedom.
Like other living things, the Rule of Law must be nourished through thick and thin. We live in a world in which many ascending economic powers have no like tradition, and forces often times emerge in the marketplace that can cause an erosion of the Rule of Law. An obvious example concerns varying degrees of respect for intellectual property rights, but in fact the range of challenges to the Rule of Law extends well beyond the headlines cases.
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