The lies Key spins for the TPPA

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
13
0

945679_10151718219387888_487065005_n

Last week in Parliament, Winston Peters started asking some hard questions of John Key regarding the TPPA.

Winston was asking these hard questions after listening to Professor Jane Kelsey point out the threat the TPPA presents for NZ at the Public Town Hall meeting at the beginning of this month and how it is closely tied into the GCSB legislation.

Winston’s concerns were driven by his national sovereignty beliefs. He was asking why NZ would sign up to an agreement that allowed American Corporations to prosecute the NZ Government if we pass laws that threaten the profit margins of those large corporations

The questions Winston asked was the following…

Rt Hon Winston Peters: OECD States the average legal cost for Governments involved in these disputes is $10 million per dispute, but frequently rises to as much as nearly $40 million, would he abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it provided foreign companies unfettered powers to sue the New Zealand Government; if not, why not?

…NZ stands to lose millions in legal costs, and the American corporate lobbyists will use that threat of legal action to bend and change any legislation they see fit.

So how did Key respond? His answer from Hansard

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

Rt Hon JOHN KEY : Let me reaffirm what I said earlier. Firstly, New Zealand is not going to sign up to any free-trade agreement, and that includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, unless it is in New Zealand’s interest to do that. Secondly, the major provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership are currently being worked through. The third thing I would say is that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as the member may or may not be aware, is a negotiated agreement between 12 different economies. In one of the pieces of research I saw recently, it is estimated that it could be worth between $2 billion to $4 billion a year for the New Zealand economy. So I would say that that is fairly strong evidence that it well may be in New Zealand’s interest to do the deal.

Let’s focus in on that claim…

“In one of the pieces of research I saw recently, it is estimated that it could be worth between $2 billion to $4 billion a year for the New Zealand economy”

What we need to appreciate about the TPPA is that it isn’t a Free Trade deal at all, it’s a leash designed by National Security fears. 29 chapters are in the TPPA, and only 5 are about trade, the rest are about NZ deregulating its economy for America. The GCSB and TICS Bill is part of that deregulation to allow the NSA direct access to domestic spying. America doesn’t see the TPPA as an economic document, they see it as a means of directly countering Chinese influence in the Pacific.

The reality is we get sweet FA out of this other than being a puppet to America. Key has to keep lying to NZ about the deal being worth between $2 Billion and $4 Billion to con the sleepy Hobbits.

So how much of a lie is the claim we will gain between $2 Billion and $4 Billion?

This leaked cable from our Chief Negotiator shows how much of a lie Key’s claims of billions are…

“Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Mark Sinclair emphasized that it has been a long-held objective of the Government of New Zealand to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, and there is a public perception that getting into the United States will be an “el Dorado” for New Zealand’s commercial sector. However, the reality is quite different, said Sinclair, since the United States is already quite open to New Zealand trade and investment. He underscored that New Zealand needs to manage expectations in this regard.”

CLASSIFIED BY: Robert Clarke, DCM, Department of State, US Embassy Wellington; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

Key is lying to NZ about how much the TPPA will gain for us and he is avoiding answering any direct questions about the real costs beyond total capitulation to America and loss of economic sovereignty.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

13 COMMENTS

    • Thinking about his salary – what about the tax on the profits from his investments? Does he pay any as 50 mil must generate a substantial income?

  2. The `weapons of mass destruction ` are running our country!!! The tppa is and should never be an option for aotearoa. Key just says what he thinks people want to hear. He’s forgotten he’s a public servant and this needs addressing yesterday!

  3. Someone needs to go through the list of the “money” his deals have made for NZ. Profits from “trickle down” economics never benefit the country. He might as well say a gazilion bazillion for all the good this will do for NZ.

    • Is that ever done?

      Is any agency required to keep tabs on the metrics and report back to parliament (not the government of the day) about whether the golden egg-laying chook really delivered in the time frame promised?

      Or is it all puffery and hope that no one will go back to check on the actual results? 170 000 jobs, anyone? (Which industries? What work? Which markets? etc. Funny how our Masters of Fiscal Prudence don’t seem to do this basic biz stuff…)

      • To be fair to Key, he technically has created many new jobs in the public sector.

        That is, he’s created several ‘new’ jobs via ‘restructuring’ processes which also involved the destroying of probably twice that amount of jobs. So the net result is a huge loss in jobs, but hey, he did create many ‘new’ jobs…

      • No, that’s the thing. When they make these promises, no journo says “Where’s the proof? how will we know this happens? What are consequences if you’re wrong?”

        It’s just taken for granted. Like underpants gnomes. Step 1: Growth! structure economy for huge private profits…. Step 2….(?) Step 3: Happy NZ families… didn’t you see the growth?

  4. As I see it, the TPPA is the next step in implementing corporate governance. So wake up and say good by to democracy which today is little more than a shroud that real power hides behind.

    There is little difference between National and Labour policies as both are in the pocket of the corporations. As leaders step down they walk through an open door to a high salary position in the corporation machine, but only if they have like Tony Blair, served the corporation well.

    The short story; when the Tppa comes into being, we will have no sovereignty and no rights. We will have to out up and shut up, eat monsanto ge foods, buy nestles water, stop writing about the truth, work for lower wages. Any dissent will be picked up by the GCSB and NSA and those who dare to think will end up in a new private prison.

    Once the corporation has us screwed down, eugenic programs will be rolled out and new Auschwitz’s will spring up to eliminate the undesirables. We have been warned and this is the price of our complacency

    http://suanqu.co.nz/our-rights-and-the-tpp/
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22595538/the-killing-of-tony-blair
    http://suanqu.co.nz/comfortably-numb/
    http://suanqu.co.nz/the-price-of-complacency/

  5. SO when do we make a decision as a so called democratic society , Do you stop voting in elections that govern our country so as not to perpetuate this situation , or do you ask the Maori people as to how we can benefit this country in a more sharing constitution?, so as to avoid a lot of imported ideas that obviously service the few and are getting fewer , what is happening to the middle-class person is nothing new to Maori , today the word is Liberalism ,in 1835 they told Maori Sovereign and in 1840 they told Maori Treaty only to find out later that it actually meant Acquiesce ,Wow! I wonder how many Maori let alone European people understood that word back then let alone Now !

  7. […] When Key is claiming a referendum on asset sales is an “utter waste of money” and claiming the cost of the Living Wage will be “unworkable and unbelievable“, you have to choke back the hypocrisy. This is the man who handed $30million in corporate welfare to Rio Tinto so that he could still sell Meridian and as for his back of the envelope calculations that the Living Wage would cost $2.5 Billion, I’m assuming this is the same envelope he used to claim the TPPA will make us billions and billions. […]

Comments are closed.