NZ UK FTA “Inclusive Trade” Agenda Does Nothing To Redress Failed Free Trade Model
“The Inclusive Trade agenda in the New Zealand United Kingdom free trade agreement (FTA) attempts to recover some of the credibility the Labour Government lost when it signed the unpopular CPTPP to rescue the even more unpopular TPPA”, says Auckland University Professor Emeritus Jane Kelsey.
“The chapters on Māori, gender, small businesses, environment and labour essentially concede that free trade agreements have been driven by the interests of big business and heightened economic and social equality, and marginalisation over recent decades.”
“Yet”, according to Professor Kelsey, “these chapters do nothing to redress that imbalance”,
The FTA’s enforceable rules on goods, intellectual property rights, investment, financial services, and the crucial new area of digital trade are all skewed to benefit large corporate interests.
By contrast, the “Inclusive Trade” chapters on Māori, women, small businesses are unenforceable and merely promote “cooperation activities” like research, exchanges and roadshows.
“Yes, there is reference to Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi, as there should be in any international agreement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom”, said Professor Kelsey.
“But the UK merely ‘notes’ it was an original signatory to the Treaty, and then washes its hands of any ongoing obligations. Every subsequent reference to the Treaty is confined to New Zealand.”
Likewise, the Māori trade chapter is “ground-breaking” in name only.
“Not only is the Māori Trade chapter unenforceable, and limited to three areas they ‘may’ cooperate on, the UK explicitly says that nothing in the chapter imposes an obligation on it to actually do anything!”
In return, the always over-optimistic economic modelling projects a maximum gain of $970 million to New Zealand’s GDP in 15 years.
Professor Kelsey points out that is about 0.3% of current GDP, or an increase on average of less than 0.02% per year over 15 years – “hardly an economic bonanza”.
And that is without considering that increases in New Zealand’s trade with the UK are already happening without the FTA and that many of those exports will be diverted from other export markets.
Professor Kelsey repeated the calls from herself and many others in Aotearoa and internationally for a comprehensive rethink of this model of free trade agreements to confront the social, environmental and economic challenges of the 21st century.
+1 NZ UK FTA “Inclusive Trade” Agenda Does Nothing To Redress Failed Free Trade Model
Free trade is essentially a failure and leading to widespread dissatisfaction and insecurity in the west as jobs are outsourced at the lowest price, wages stagnant and costs rising. Unemployment or employment that is below liveable wages and lower prospects abound in places like the US, UK, NZ leading to unrest.
Equality is a word that has become polluted by self interested groups who seem to be doing the opposite of making everyone equal.
Post free trade we have cheap migrant workers coming into the west on fraud ponzi’s or human trafficking that benefit the worst employers and organised/disoraganised crime offering slave/forced/fraudulent job conditions that are now being replicated in the west such as Italy https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/20/tomatoes-italy-mafia-migrant-labour-modern-slavery and NZ https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/336687/indian-businesses-sell-jobs-for-visas-to-students.
Many of the ERA cases in NZ are migrant workers working poorly run fraudulent businesses, that then lower the overall ability of everyone else to work in NZ as the bad employers make the most profits and are expanding and swapping their employee’s like lollies. More workers come to replace them on Ponzi’s needing housing, education and health care but often the jobs are actually not there, or are creating a plethora of socially poor businesses like liquor stores/cheap smokes/Meth fast food/cheap imported goods/farm labourers run by ‘managers’ on $25 p/h or cash, that supply goods that prey on victims living in NZ.
What is the government doing? Making it worse and the possibility of reversal harder with free trade agreements that bind poor social policy and inequality into kangaroo international trade courts!
The more government ‘consult’ to the woke and Rogernoms spouting free trade, the more they create policies that make the problems worse and decrease NZ’s national security such as the rise in terrorism in NZ in last few years by people new to NZ planning attacks against NZ’ers.
Time to look at places like Finland that are trying to keep criminals, fraudsters and corruption out of their country and prevent recidivism. https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/17335-finland-deported-unusually-many-foreigners-last-year-writes-yle.html
If the Rogernoms can’t get their cheap workers, they might actually start training people in NZ, expecting NZ employers to make more effort to retain workers and putting fraudulent NZ businesses out of business!
Race to the bottom – ignoring science to allow polluters to make more dollars.
UK overrules scientific advice by lifting ban on bee-harming pesticide
Campaigners aghast as emergency exemption on use of thiamethoxam granted due to risk to sugar beet crop
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/01/bee-harming-pesticide-thiamethoxam-uk-emergency-exemption
As the quote from Tarun Sarathe
“Imagine if trees gave off Wifi signals, we would be planting so many trees and we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce the oxygen we breathe.”
Sadly polluters seem to be buying up the forests too.
Deforestation in the Legal Amazon grows 22% in 2021, reaching the highest rate in 15 years
https://infoamazonia.org/en/2021/11/19/deforestation-amazon-grows-22-in-2021/
Looking at those two pictures it appear obvious that only one flag is actually needed.
The prominence of the Union Jack in the top left hand corner of our NZ flag is getting a bit annoying.
I did not vote for flag change. I don’t want the flag changed.
I just wish they could drape our flag differently so as to emphasis the Southern Cross rather than the Union Jack.
Tables, lecterns and people often get in the way and obscure the stars.
Noticed this when we were seeing a lot of press conferences at parliament. Lots of Union Jacks on show.
It was particularly galling and ironic during the early days of the pandemic considering we in NZ were doing so much better than the UK at fighting and containing the virus. It almost looked as if we still thought they had something to teach us about that.
Sorry everyone, I realize this is off the topic. I just wanted to draw attention to it.
Lift our flag higher and drape it differently.
I forgot all about the notoriety of economic models. Covid models and economic models share a lot in common.
It is really frustrating that we barely here a mention of the true ‘value’ to Aotearoa in the main stream media. I did hear Jane being quoted once on the news with the pathetic gain that we will make over 15 years. The whole of the FTA’s are a bloody joke.