MUST READ: Trade for All is a lie
It has taken almost a year for the not-so-new Labour-led government to act on its promise of an inclusive and progressive new trade strategy. Only, ‘act’ a far too generous description. It’s too little, too late. The terms of reference signed off by the Cabinet are not going to explore the real reasons why Kiwis, among many others around the world, have turned their backs on these agreements.
Read More →“Trade For All” consultation lacks credibility while negotiations on old model continue
‘It is worrying that the Prime Minister aims to ensure New Zealand’s values and sovereignty were not “unduly compromised” in the quest for more market access. But the shroud of secrecy continues, leaving us in a “trust me” zone with a government that has given us no grounds to do so’.
Read More →“Trade for All” in the EU NZ FTA Offers No New Direction
I urge the coalition parties in government to deliver the genuine change in the model of trade agreements that they promised before the election.
To date the promised review of trade strategy has involved outreach or information-sharing sessions on negotiations already underway, within the anti-democratic shroud of secrecy that shields the negotiations from scrutiny. There is no tangible evidence that the government intends to do anything significantly different.
Read More →Which of Labour’s trade policies will the PM pursue?
‘As the Prime Minister heads to Europe, with the proposed trade deals with the European Union and Britain at the top of her agenda, which of Labour’s trade policies she is going to pursue?’.
Read More →Govt must tell NZers if the TPPA-11 is its bottom line
US President Donald Trump instructed his National Economic Council Director and the United States Trade Representative to look into joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that he quit just over a year ago. This follows his earlier suggestion that he would consider doing so, provided its terms were made more beneficial to the US.
Read More →Capitulation in TPPA-11 raises fears of more to come – Professor Jane Kelsey
‘The so-called Joint Declaration on Inclusive and Progressive Trade, released by New Zealand, Canada and Chile alongside the signing of the resurrected Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA-11), comes across as a desperate attempt to put a gloss on a profoundly unprogressive deal’, says University of Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey. ‘They promise to make the TPPA-11 […]
Read More →Open letter to Trade Minister David Parker
Thank you for your invitation to join you in Chile on 8th March, at my own expense, for the signing of the resurrected Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that your own party in Opposition said was seriously flawed.
Read More →TPPA-11 Don’t Do It! Petition
Despite the government saying that they would refuse to support ratification of the TPPA and demanding independent economic and health analyses, and promising a new inclusive approach to trade and investment agreements, the new ‘progressive’ TPPA-11 is the same as before, with a small number of provisions suspended for now.
Read More →Why we must rally to stop this new TPPA Frankenstein
The TPPA rubber hits the road over the next three months. After an about-face on their opposition to the original deal, the Labour and NZ First have spun as hard as they can without even sounding convinced themselves.
Read More →Labour’s first post-Waitangi challenge: will it allow the Waitangi Tribunal to complete the TPPA inquiry?
There were lots of positives at Waitangi this week. There was also a lot of gloss, driven by hope (and perhaps primed by Shane Jones hospitality). Labour promised that it will be accountable to Maori. That promise faces a major test next week, as the Crown responds in the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
Read More →The zombie TPPA is back!
In other words, Canada’s government showed political backbone and it succeeded. Ours caved at the first post-election meeting and rationalises that as the best they could do.
Read More →Best and worst case scenarios for Labour’s ‘inclusive and progressive’ trade agenda
Labour’s David Parker has heralded a new era in New Zealand’s trade policy to rein in the excesses of global capitalism and make rules work for the 99% not the 1%. What would a best-case scenario for a trade policy review in 2018 look like? Before the election It’s Our Future published a set of bottom lines for a just trade policy. Post-election, I have my own wish list.
Read More →If Labour wants to ‘tame globalised capital’ why is it supporting investment rules in WTO?
Last week Trade Minister David Parker said “it’s not fair that we subjugate ourselves to the interests of the one per cent” and promised to tame the “excesses of globalised capital”.
Read More →URGENT ATTENTION ALL ANTI-TPPA ACTIVISTS
We discovered less than a week ago that MFAT is hosting ‘consultations’ around the country, with David Parker, this week on the TPPA-11. It appeared to be a last-minute decision to do something before Xmas, and somehow they forgot to send invitations to critics who have attended previous ‘consultations’. Presumably the business sector was given priority notice. There is no information on the MFAT website, but we know at least about these:
Read More →The bizarre de-registration of anti-WTO NGOs
Yesterday I wrote to Trade Minister David Parker asking him to intervene urgently over the sudden and bizarre de-registration of representatives of prominent NGOs who had been accredited to attend the World Trade Organization ministerial conference from 10 to 13 December in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Read More →The latest on resisting the TPPA
David Parker has promised to hold consultations after the TPPA-11 has been agreed and before it is signed. That could be at very short notice and in a very short window, unless people intensify the pressure on the government to follow Canada’s lead and go back to the table.
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