Let’s be clear – when Labour & NZ First sign the TPPA this week – it will be as cheap traitors for less than 30 pieces of silver

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
27
3

In the week Labour and NZ First sign the TPPA, let’s ask agin who is the TPPA for?

Is it for NZ or for corporate power trumping domestic political sovereignty?

It is without a doubt the latter and not the former.

The reason this is still being rammed through is testament to the truth that the Ministries run this Government and it is not the Government in charge of the Ministries.

Let’s be crystal clear. This is NOT a trade deal, it could have been, there’s a chance to fight it tooth and nail through the parliamentary process until it is, but right now it is not a trade deal.

This is about corporate power over domestic political sovereignty.

This is about ensuring water can be taken out of our country.

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This is about making sure foreign interests can trump domestic ones.

This is about making sure environmental safe guards can’t stop international interests.

This is about Pharmaceutical Trans National interests.

This is about copyright powers.

This is about the ability of our Government to pass legislation with the constant threat of being sued.

And how much are we getting to sell our souls to our Corporate Overlords?

What is the price of the 30 pieces of silver we are gaining for this capitulation to our own political Tino rangatiratanga?

In 20 years the TPPA will have given us .3%-1% growth in GDP, that is the fucking pathetic price we are prepared to sell ourselves out for…

Little economic benefit

The National Interest Analysis (NIA) reveals that the economic benefits of TPP-11 will be small, even if some of the exaggerated assumptions are included. The NIA estimates overall benefits will be only 0.3 – 1.0% growth in GDP by the time the TPP is fully implemented, in 20 years’ time.

This compares with a GDP growth of 61% in 20 years’ time without TPP-11 (using Treasury long term forecasts).

The headline from the media that there would be up to $4bn benefit from the TPP-11 uses exaggerated assumptions and ignores the timeframe. In reality, an additional 0.3 – 1.0% by 2038 from TPP-11 is a very small benefit.

This is shown in the data:

  • Tariff reductions of $222m per year are 0.4% of overall exports and 1.1% agricultural exports
  • They are mainly concentrated in commodities, rather than in value-added processed goods or complex manufacturers that are important to our economic future
  • Tariff reductions for dairy and beef fall short of the ‘gold standard’ treaty originally promised
  • Tariff reductions for dairy are 0.7% of overall dairy exports

The argument in the NIA that exports to China grew after we signed an FTA ignores the context. There was huge growth in commodity exports from Australia, Brazil and other exporters to China, whether or not they had signed an FTA. It is disingenuous to claim this as a likely scenario for exports under TPP-11.

…how spineless is that?

We are selling out for commodity exports with no added value and no future agency.

This deal is for those corporate interests who wish to exploit the pristine base products we produce, it is not about us protecting our future.

On a planet with trade wars, economic crashes and  environmental apocalypses looming we need to have our hand firmly on the tiller of the nation, this deal allows over seas interests to direct our hand.

It is not acceptable.

It must be fought.

Labour and NZ First have had enough time, they can’t be excused any longer.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. Well , sadly ,… this will provide ammo from all sectors to blast them with.

    And they wont be living this down in a hurry.

    Which only goes to show there are powerful lobby groups in this country ,- powerful enough to put the boot to the throat of any govt that resists them. Contrast that with Iceland who up and sacked their PM forthwith for corruption a few years back.

    There was no mucking around with the Vikings.

    Unlike the wimps we have over here…

  2. Agreed Martyn,

    We are being again taken ‘to the cleaners’ for past words of solace.

    This new government have no guts to speak up for our own sovereignty.

    So our own kids future is already clearly at peril.

    Time will expose their folly.

    If they thought these trading “partners” were good for us they are being foolish, as these low wage countries with terrible environmental laws will bring us to ruin in time believe me.

  3. I honestly (and naively) thought this abomination of a trade deal was dead and buried when Trump pulled the US out. Dead and buried I thought. The bright side is that the US has the most giant and ruthless of unregulated corporations, and these won’t be protected by the TPPA. On the other hand, Japan and a few others also have giant ruthless corporations… Given that most corporations behave like psychopaths (and the bigger they are, the more psychotic they get), the TPPA should never be signed into law imo.
    https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/our-humanity-naturally/201103/why-corporations-are-psychotic

  5. Oh, I am so GLAD, that Martyn is finally seeing the light, the truth that is, about this government, not quite what most of us had hoped for.

  6. Don’t worry, Mr Trump will push us into recession, as he had enough, and wants to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum, maybe more. If he does not do it, the extraction and exploitation ‘trade deals’ of this world will anyway lead us to economic and social collapse eventually, most are in TOTAL denial, as the truth is so fricking scary.

    People are like on a drug, that gives them an illusion, that all is well and will somehow carry on as usual. It is NOT, the shit will hit the fan big some time.

    I advise Martyn to move out of his urban apartment, join a rural grass roots based collective, that can ensure he and others survive by growing their own food and making own basic things, as all else will not work much longer.

    • Yes, the world is on the brink of collapse (as a consequence of overpopulation and overconsumption), and everything governments do makes matters worse……because governments do not act in the interest of the citizens they purport to represent; they act in the interest of banks, corporations and opportunists, making sure enough ‘breadcrumbs’ fall into the mouths of the masses to prevent revolution.

      Betrayal is the byword of the age we live in. And when ‘the ship goes down’, as it surely will in the not-too-distant future, people living in ‘rabbit hutches’ in big cities will be the first to be sacrificed by the system.

      • My opinion of TPPA-11 is the same as feminists – do I want to be in this club? The answer is yes.

        The benefits for being in or out of TPPA-11 is negligible. What screws New Zealand is a strong kiwi dollar because that kills manufacturing and makes innovation and research & development way to expensive to overcome.

        So Grant Robertson has to keep the dollar weak. The kiwi dollar has remained relatively strong through some major earthquakes and those quake effected zones are yet to fully recover. These supply side issues can be addressed by EQC’s newly appointed chairwoman Annette King clearing the backlog of earthquake insurance claims as well as insuring State High 1 from Christchurch to Pitcon remains open after cyclon Gita exposed some slips earthquak effected maintain sides.

        So summary a weak dollar + R&D + recovery = a positive TPPA-11

        Screw up any one or more of the holy trinity and you’re fucked.

      • Well said – totally agree except I do believe that the tide is changing and thousands of the elite cabal criminals are being exposed and served with prosecution papers over the past few months and continuing.

  7. Didn’t you tell us Labour was just going through the motions, waiting for the tpp to fall over so they could save face? Or was that all wrong, but NOW you’re right, for sure?

  8. TPP = Growth in dairy. x

    Growth in fossil fuels. x

    Growth , Growth , Growth , till the planet dies .

    Burn , Burn Burn , till the planet dies .

    Sold out by Labour and NZF. Death economy and ecocide .

    Total f*** wits .

    • Lots of people think dairy is a driver of growth, but it isn’t. Debt is the single driver of growth. That kiwis can not stomach much more debt means change is inevitable.

  9. Sad day when Labour / Greens sell out and disappoints those aware of what this disgusting; greed based trade agreement is really all about.

    I AM DEEPLY AFRAID THAT PORTIONS OF LABOUR/GREENS ARE CONNECTED TOO CLOSELY WITH THE CORPORATE ELITE AND IN BED WITH THEM WAY TO MUCH. Where are their guts and ethics on this trade deal ? ? ? ?
    Jacinda is too much like Helen Clark and that ain’t a compliment in my circle.

    • Blake – it is Labour and NZ First that are signing the TPP – the Greens have been consistently opposed to it.

      • Thanks Janine for clearing that up. I have not been closely following the political scene lately. I just assumed that the Greens were going along with Labour on this and am glad to here this is not true.
        I misrepresented the Greens in my recent writings and I apologize.
        Just wish that Labour had more balls to stand up for what is right on this issue of TPPA.

  10. The Wage Slave Labour Party already did this under Clark, Martyn, when they sold us out to the Chinese dictatorship. Any master would be better than the largest dictatorship on the planet.

  11. A wise person once said, when Todd the Muppet McLay praises a thing, you know it is a bad thing.

    Every last opportunity for resource exploitation and profit making WILL be taken, right up the inevitable ensuing environmental collapse.
    This is the only outcome possible, when you hand control of resources and people to pyschopaths as we, the vastly ignorant and apathetic population have done.

    But yeah………rugby, reality TV, Snapchat etc etc.
    🙁

  12. Why on earth would any intelligent person or government sign such an agreement??????????????

    It is crazy and against everything this country (used to) think it stands for, environment, The treaty, human rights, equality.

    Even after being sued by the Hagamans you would think Little and other’s would think twice about signing agreements to encourage litigation.

    Litigation is increasingly not about being right or wrong but being used to scare, disrupt and change decision making.

    The ISDS Clauses are being used on average once a week. As resources get scarcer and lawyers greedier and governments try to preserve resources, litigation will increase.

    Canada is the most sued country under ISDS and mostly for environmental stances.

    But our government is only too keen to risk it all for virtually zero gain, in the face of rapid environmental and climate change.

    labour and NZ First are weak and feeble and history will judge them even worse than National because National does not know any better but Labour and NZ First do and were voted in for change, not more of the fucked up neoliberal ideals.

    • Yeah WTF. I hate Natz but Labours goin crap on TPP. WTF we didn’t vote for this bs. Need strong action, don’t push major crap onto us. This is a big deal. Fight this, we gotta do something. Any ideas?

      • Well good on those activists that have dumped the soft toys outside Jacinda’s office and concreted themselves in.

        Maybe more of that protest to make a lot of publicity, engage more with other concerned groups, Greenpeace, forest and bird, unions and Green and Mana party, and making sure to submit to the public submissions because TPPA is not through yet.

        (There remains a process prior to ratification whereby the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee must examine the text alongside the National Interest Analysis prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and, most importantly, hear public submissions.)

  13. “A landmark ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today could mark the beginning of the end of the so-called ‘corporate court’ system within Europe.

    This infamous system is now to be found in hundreds of trade and investment deals. Under the guise of protecting investments in foreign countries, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), as it’s officially known, allows big business and super-wealthy investors to sue foreign governments for regulations they don’t like. What’s more these courts exist outside the normal legal framework, are presided over by corporate lawyers and usually meet in secret, with no right of appeal.

    Across the world, this system has been used to challenge dozens of environmental regulations, as well as minimum wage rises, putting cigarettes in plain packing and freezing electricity prices. It was also at the core of opposition to US-EU trade deal TTIP, which would have included corporate courts.

    Today’s ruling is part of a specific case involving a Dutch company called Achmea and the government of Slovakia. The company was just starting to provide health insurance in Slovakia in 2006 when a new government in the country decided to reverse the liberalisation of its health insurance market, and placed specific limits on profit-making. The case is important in highlighting the threat to contracted out public health systems – like parts of the NHS – from these corporate courts.

    Achmea brought corporate court proceedings against Slovakia in 2008 under a Netherlands-Slovakia investment agreement. The company won, and Slovakia was order to pay €22million. That’s when proceedings started in the German court system to force Slovakia to pay up, and the German federal court of justice asked the ECJ whether all of this was lawful under EU Treaties.

    Today we received the answer: the way these corporate courts work isn’t lawful because they exist outside the normal court system and therefore outside the judicial system of the EU. As such they are incompatible with EU law.

    This ruling will have a big impact in a case we’ve been highlighting for a few years: that of Canadian mining company Gabriel Resources which is seeking over $2.5billion damages from Romania after it effectively rejected its plans for a gold mine –Europe’s largest – at Rosia Montana. The Romanian parliament refused to amend the country’s mining law in a way that would have made the mine possible, following months of local and national protest.”

    http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog/2018/mar/6/corporate-courts-thrown-out-europe-now-britain-must-follow-lead

  15. The only way to force a change of tack was to bring Farmers in from out off their cold muddy paddocks and include them in the foreign currency they generated as our primary industry.
    Weirdly, you city ponces were too busy looking up your own bleached arseholes to see that.
    You fucked it up. All of you. You fucked it up.
    Based upon the view history has given me, I now do truly fear for the future. My future, I should point out. Fuck yours. You have, as I’ve written, fucked it up.
    Once the ‘ global economy’ tanks and we all become snivelling little minions to the fucking Chinese, Germans, Yanks etc , the only thing I might get out of that will be the dubious pleasure of being able to write “ I told you so. “

  17. This will be the LAST time I vote for Labour . From now on it’ll be two ticksGreen Party. This is rogernomics betrayal 2.0

    • Gotta say, I feel that way too at the moment.
      “You had one job Labour……..one job!!!!”
      However, maybe this thing will play out differently.

      The world is run by psychopaths. Remember that.
      This makes the art of prediction exceedingly difficult!

      And of course, the elephant-on-steroids in the room; namely, climate change, may well render every bloody ‘trade deal’ and corporate lolly scramble completely senseless anyway.

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