Beyond the spin that NZers would have a say about the TPPA, beyond the lies of how much money it will make us, beyond the fact it’s an American geopolitical strategy to counter China in the Pacific – is the terrifying reality that the TPPA opens NZ up to foreign corporations suing us if domestic law costs them money.
Key say’s it’s unlikely to happen – it just did.
TPP opponents say Keystone suit shows threat
A legal dispute over the Keystone XL oil pipeline is giving opponents of a Pacific trade agreement a fresh argument in their effort to get the US Congress to kill the pact.
They say the case announced this week, in which TransCanada is seeking arbitration to recover US$15 billion tied to the Obama administration’s rejection of Keystone, shows how foreign companies could use provisions of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement to challenge US policy on the environment and other matters.
“I can’t think of many clearer signals that could have been offered at this moment to show how big a threat the TPP poses to our efforts to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” said Ben Beachy, a senior policy adviser for the Sierra Club, the San Francisco-based environmental group.
The trade pact will encourage oil and gas companies to use arbitration to seek compensation from the United States, he said.
TransCanada argues that by rejecting the pipeline, the Obama administration violated provisions of a different trade deal – the North American Free Trade agreement.
…by signing the TPPA and having it ratified by the necessary members John Key is signing away our ability to pass domestic law without costing us millions in legal fees and opening us up to potentially massive damage claims from unscrupulous corporates.
This is forced trade not free trade.
Gee Key has lied yet again…still whats new…Kiwi Hobbits will simply do what ever Key wants…its amazing just how weak we all are…having money doesn’t equal brains, excess money equals theft, greed and corruption…and if anyone knows that Key does…
If it’s “free trade” why will it cost us so much?
What concerns me most of all is that we had very dumb arsed negotiators representing New Zealand who did NOT EVEN raise the issue of our sovereignty with regards to our land sales to foreigners and our parliament’s inalienable right to enact laws to preserve our own fundamental land sovereignty, whereas the negotiators from Malaysia, Australia and Singapore were clued on and smarter in that regard.
[Here are some quotes from Mr Andrew Little:
‘One of the provisions in the TPPA that most concerns me, I raised this in all the meetings I had in Washington DC at the end of last year, is the part of the agreement that says that countries who are party to it will not be able to pass laws to restrict land sales.
That seems to me just an absolute contravention of our sovereign right to have a Parliament that passes our laws.
The funny thing is of course when you look at it, when you look at the agreement, at least three countries have got exemption from that provision, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, and when I asked about the issue when I was in Washington DC I was told that actually New Zealand didn’t even ask for an exemption to that provision.
So we’re stuck with an agreement that would prevent a future New Zealand Parliament from passing a law that the New Zealand public might want to have.
The Labour Party has a policy that we would restrict or put in place restrictions on land sales, because we know that New Zealanders are concerned about the amount of land that is falling into non resident foreign ownership. And so we will proceed to do that.
We need to send that signal very clearly so that when there is a change of government it won’t be a surprise to other members of the TPPA and we will proceed as if we will do what’s in the best interests of New Zealand.
Our opposition to anything that compromises our sovereignty is nothing new, we’ve made that pretty clear. I was pretty clear in my speech to the Labour conference at the end of last year is that you know it is simply something we would not contemplate or would not agree with and we would defy it and I’ve made that clear to various American authorities I met with at the end of last year. I’m making it clear now’]
We have a stupid government running our nation and selling our ultimate interest and sovereignty away!
We need to send that signal very clearly so that when there is a change of government it won’t be a surprise to other members of the TPPA and we will proceed as if we will do what’s in the best interests of New Zealand.
For this it is essential that Labour and opposition parties vote against all stages of the agreement.
Then it will pass by only a single vote or two, and it will be clear that no true mandate or political consensus exists.
That way there is possibly room for future change or rejection of the agreement.
If Labour votes for the agreement but voices lame words of intent to resist parts of the agreement at a later date, (yeah right), they will have no real leg to stand on.
Sorry, what is lame about saying that you will not be bound by provisions of an agreement that contravene New Zealand’s interests?
On the other hand, to oppose everything, root and branch, whether you agree with it or not, is the Republican strategy in the U.S.
It is not worthy of an intelligent entity.
The TPPA looks like a plank in the neo-liberal Corporate plan to make governments essentially irrelevant in as many areas as possible. But that is a different argument from opposing provisions you essentially agree with.
What is not worthy of an intelligent entity is to vote for an agreement but somehow think you can later renege of whatever provisions within it that you pick and choose.
The question to the TPPA “Free Trade” deal is;
Who benefits from it?
How will Key respond to the question?
The cost of the TPPA to the New Zealand people may be measured in more than money it may be measured in blood.
The American state is being sued by a big corporation because protesters led and inspired by an anti-climate change group known as 350.org managed to stop their proposed pipeline.
What if that happened here? What if a protest group managed to successfully hold up, let’s say a new coal mine development by foreign investors? Under the TPPA these foreign investors would have the right to sue our government for $billions in lost and projected profits.
What would be the natural reaction of a government facing such catastrophic damages?
They would would be desperate to prevent it, with what ever resources they had available.
This could see the government ordering the deployment of maximum force to suppress the protests that were holding up the coal mine development. Resulting injuries and even deaths.
Implausible?
Maybe?
Maybe not?
Last year after a two year campaign the Auckland climate change group Auckland Coal Action successfully defeated Fonterra’s plans to develop a new coal mine at Mangatangi just south of Auckland.
What if it wasn’t Fonterra but a foreign company that wanted to develop this new coal mine?
And what if the TPPA had been signed a year ago?
Liked for the catchphrase at the end: “this is forced trade, not free trade”
+100!!!
Just watch NZer’s Key and co will let these ‘friends’ rape and pillage NZ while fattening their own bank accounts
They are already doing this,what I don’t understand is why is the opposition party not doing something about it. John Key has to go.
That’s because they are ALL cut from the same cloth. When push comes to shove, only psychopaths put their names forward for election. The reasons for this seem fairly clear. Regular people could never realisticallycope with being responsible for poverty, wars, deaths, unemployment etc, yet these things are inescapable. For example, if NZ didn’t do what we are told to by outside powers, we might incur sanctions – resulting in poverty and/or unavailability of essential medicines etc – even resulting in death. It’s a lose-lose situation, and only the psychopaths running this clown show can sleep easy at night.
Key and Groser are little more than American yes-men.
TTPA = REPRESENTS A PLAN BY GLOBAL CARPETBAGGERS TO OPERATE WITHOUT IMPUNITY WITH THE HELP OF THEIR PAID CRIMINAL NATIONAL POLITICIANS AS THEIR SUPPORTERS, & NOT OURS.
SO KISS NZ AS YOU KNOW IT GOODBYE WHEN THEY COME TO TAKE OVER TO RAPE & PILLAGE THE REMAINS.
Congratulations Martyn on keeping these issues alive and in the public eye. The TPPA and the transatlantic equivalent are not about trade. They are a desperate attempt by corporate America to retain control of international business and finance. There is nothing free about them they are designed to restrict the BRICS countries and anyother country that wants to step out from under Uncle Sam’s thumb
We’ve already been sued under a free trade agreement; https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/17/keys-tppa-falsehoods-weve-never-ever-been-sued-up-date/
And the update; https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/13/keys-tppa-falsehoods-weve-never-ever-been-sued/
Those on the Right countered my story by trying to describe the legal action as a “judicial review”. Which is rubbish, if the end result is a decision by the Courts to curtail/amend/cancel or otherwise interfere in government policy by overseas corporate interests.
If the TPPA is as bad as you make out then NZ can just leave it.
Really Gosman are you so thick to believe jts as easy as that.
The provisions set in place by the instigators of the so called trade deal has been set in concrete the means to keep NZ from ever getting out of it.
Key is well aware of this,he knows most of the public are against the TPPA and he dosnt give a damn .
Key has been told by his puppet masters what he has to do,what he was forced on us to achieve, and he will do it come hell and high water.
If he has to cheat and lie he will do it without any conscious. Key is attempting to change the flag, the paper currency of NZ has been changed,whats next, the constitution
changed to suit corporations.
Our assets sold , now privatisation, another name for asset sales.
Key is just a salesman for corporations, and you believe we can get out of it if we don’t like it,
Nz has already said we don’t want it,but the dictator Key will have the TPPA or his backside will be on the line,lets hope we can overcome his criminal intent somehow.
Decisionmakers, of course, must rely on lobbyists for such things; laws and rules get terribly specific and specialized, and no man is a master of all subjects, so lobbyists and PR campaigns are needed to provide information on the topic – meaning that for balanced judgement on their part, they need lobbyists from both sides, which in this instance means lobbyists from fossil fuel companies on one hand and lobbyists and PR campaigns from… average joes and representatives thereof on the other.
The latter group, not having the free speech access the corporation does due to money being speech, must therefore be more vigilant and work harder to compensate for that power imbalance and maintain the balance of rational self-interest that keeps a capitalist system from collapsing.
Finally owned up to by the msm
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11572700
It’s got nothing to do with TPPA. How can it be it has not been signed yet. Just another example of dog chasing car by the left.
It is a free trade deal with the same sorts of penalties built into the TPPA has
Why are flags important?
(Bear with me, this is not an attempted diversion)
Flags are important because they identify who is on your side, and probably more importantly who is your enemy.
(Can you see where I might be going with this?)
It is my contention that the TPPA will be sunk in this country when lots of middle New Zealand who identify with the current flag start turning up to anti TPPA rallies.
Why would this be a game changer?
Because it will identify and isolate as traitors those who are signing away our sovereignty.
Who just happen to be the same people who want to change our current national flag.
Isn’ this just a coincidence?
Maybe, but it is a happy one. One we can use against the government (and their big business backers( who treacherously want to sell off this country’s sovereignty to the foreign multi-nationals.
Personally I don’t think it is a coincidence, no great social change has ever occurred without a change in the symbolism.
But this change at this time is a reactionary change, for reactionary motives.
A corporate rebranding of what John Key and Judith Collins and others in the National government cabinet call NZ Inc.
It is time to name and shame these traitors with a simple and easily understood, unmistakable message. “You are traitors to this country, and it’s people”.
Printed signs won’t do it, banners won’t do it. But a sea of New Zealand flags will. (accompanied by our other officially recognised flag, the Tino Rangatiratanga flag).
The traitors have given us a flag to burn
The traitors flag has a Silver Fern
A symbol carved on many a sad war grave
And somber funeral Urn
The traitors corporate flag make over
Is a symbol of multinational TPP takeover
The traitors flag is partly shaded black
Because it is a symbol of creeping neo-liberal attack
Ok,ok.Wait a minute.
If we Kiwis were dragged into a TPP thing and some corporate tried suing us right? And if we then gave them the extended middle finger and said something like ” Go fuck yourselves ! ” ? What could that corporates actually do to us? Declare war ? Reposes? Credit list us?
Remember ! We have what they want. Not the other way around.
I think the TPP is bullying bullshit and the more we play into it the worse it seems . I smell a rat. Worse ! I smell a player playing. Dear old rats would never do what a deviant human would do for shits and giggles .
What would happen is this – NZ passes a law, let’s say that all NZ media need to have a 30% NZ content quota. Hollywood would then complain and demand we drop the law as it would be considered an unfair subsidy. If we said no, they could then take us to the specially designed trade courts where the only issues is the contract, not sovereignty. The court would find in the favour of Hollywood, and we would pay millions defending the case plus whatever damages were awarded against us.
It’s that awful
Thanks @ Martyn Bradbury.
Jesus ! I think I’m starting to understand the points that are so obvious that I couldn’t see them for looking.
Once the TPP’s signed off, our government will adhere to what ever foreign corporates tell us to adhere too.
That means that if we , the people of NZ Aotearoa , don’t agree and we push for change, our government will shove us back, backed by legislation which means the police and military must become involved. That was the bit I was missing. If we refuse to adhere to foreign courts our very own police and military can, and no doubt will, be used against us. Fuuuuuuuck !
What a greasy , sleazy , sneaky pack of fuckers !
Foreigners steal our country via deals brokered by our own politicians and those few then make massive profits in the process.
This has jonky-stink all over it.
Nobody wants dirty tar sands oil. I think TransCanada is driving a car with four flat tyres hoping bully boy tactics will still work in a changing world:
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20141119/why-transcanada-playing-hardball-environmentalists
Now that the market is sorting out the wheat from the chaff, I wonder how many corporations will survive:
http://geopolitics.co/vital-issues/ben-fulford/khazarian-financial-system-and-mafiosi-under-systematic-attack-as-world-revolution-unfolds/
Actually, global trade is in the process of collapsing:
http://robinwestenra.blogspot.ca/2016/01/the-global-economy-is-stopping-atlantic.html
And with so much nervousness in ‘the markets’, we could easily be on the brink of the biggest economic meltdown in history.
so when and where are they signing this thing?? I need to be there burn flags throw eggs have my own blood spilt if i have to this is crazy…
We can vote against this all we want talk against it all we want but we ALL need to unite and not be at work the day this thing is being signed. We need to put our own well being on the line and physically stop this from being passed. We ALL need to be there and cause a bigger scene then when ol Hone Heke cut out the stars of the flag we need to do something of the sort even something more extreme we need to be there and physically stop this we need this can gas bag all we want but we got to go extreme.
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