New Green MP Barry Coates: The TPPA campaign – It ain’t over

On 10th September there were events in more than 12 cities and towns across Aotearoa New Zealand in rallies, concerts and marches to broaden the campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). The aim was to grow the movement through ‘connecting the dots’ across the issues.

The common ‘dots’ relate to the dominance of corporate interests in policy-making. At the heart of the TPPA is rights for foreign corporations, undermining our sovereignty and the powers of government to regulate business. Meanwhile the government is also allowing tax advantages for multinationals and the wealthy, and planning to privatise social services. Our peace-loving country is about to host an international weapons show and give licences for deep sea oil drilling. The message from the Rally for Democracy events was that it’s time to call a halt. There are already too many advantages for corporations and the wealthy. We need to reclaim our rights.

The events had great music, inspiring speeches and committed activists, but unlike the massive march in Auckland on February this year, the rallies did not draw huge crowds. One of the problems is the perception that the TPPA won’t be approved in the US, so we don’t have to worry. That’s wrong.

It is true that the TPPA is in deep trouble. Both US Presidential candidates and a large public majority in the US oppose the TPPA. But President Obama is pushing hard for approval in the ‘lame duck’ period after the election, and corporate lobbyists are waiting with dollops of money to buy political support. Passing the TPPA during the lame duck period would represent a massive abuse of the democratic process. Prime Minister John Key and US Ambassador Tim Groser have been ramping up fears amongst the ill-informed that China will displace the US as the global leader on trade if the TPPA does not get ratified. It is still possible that the TPPA may be passed.

But even if the TPPA ratification is delayed in the US, there is little doubt that Hilary Clinton would revive it if elected President. So would Donald Trump. If we don’t want to TPPA in New Zealand, we have to defeat it in New Zealand.

The second reason that people aren’t so worried about the TPPA is they think it is being pushed through Parliament, through an abuse of democratic and Parliamentary processes by the National government, and there’s nothing we can do about it. That is partly true – the government has the numbers to get the TPPA ratified – but that’s not the end of the story.

The TPPA ‘comes into force’ (ie. starts) when countries accounting for 85% of the combined GNP of TPPA countries ratify it. That is extremely unlikely to happen before the next New Zealand election in 2017. So a future coalition government could withdraw our ratification of the TPPA before it starts. That would mean there would be little, if any political or economic cost. That is why the focus of the demand from the recent Rally was to get all the opposition parties to commit to reject the TPPA – so far Labour, Greens, NZ First and Maori party all oppose the TPPA, and the campaign will push for them to reject it if they form a government. There needs to be a strong public voice in the run-up to the election.

Thirdly, some people aren’t protesting against the TPPA because they think we can’t win. They’re wrong. Way back in the past, in the 1990s, a similar agreement to the TPPA – the Multilateral Agreement on Investment – was defeated by a global campaign. I was on an extended OE in those days, and was chair of the UK campaign, working with Jane Kelsey here and many of the same campaigners now involved in the fight against the TPPA. Collectively we have shown that we can win campaigns! A current example is the parallel agreement between the US and EU, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). It is now all but dead. In the face of protests involving millions of citizens across the EU, leading politicians from France and Germany have lined up to call for negotiations to be abandoned.

Fourthly, for those New Zealanders who think that it’s all over, the TPPA is only one of many damaging treaties. The China-led Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be even bigger than the TPPA and, although most of its provisions are not as extreme as the TPPA, it includes ISDS and would allow foreign investors to sue our government. The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is also under negotiation and is a serious threat. Negotiations with the EU are about to start. This government is using any opportunity to push trade agreement to lock in deregulation and give advantages to big business.

So the campaign must be broader than the TPPA. The government has tried to diffuse criticism of its trade policy by announcing consultations on a trade ‘refresh’. This like putting on a sticking plaster when invasive surgery is needed. It’s Our Future has called on the government to undertake a fundamental re-think of our trade agreements. New Zealand needs to be able to trade with other countries, but recent treaties extend far beyond the common definitions of trade to threaten issues of vital importance across society.

Much of the campaign against the TPPA has focused on ISDS. These allow foreign corporations to sue governments over potential loss of corporate profits. There have been over 696 cases already, most of them trying to overturn restrictions on mining or for environmental protection, but also including Germany’s transition away from nuclear power, Canada’s refusal of a medicine patent filed by Eli Lilly, Egypt’s proposal to raise the minimum wage, and the Phillip Morris case against Australia’s plain packaging of cigarettes that cost the Australia government A$50 million to defend and delayed plain packing in New Zealand by 5 years. It is little surprise that a majority of the New Zealand public oppose the TPPA.

There are other concerns with these treaties that include issues such as excessive monopoly powers conferred through patents and copyright; the loss of rights for governments to support local economies and communities; the primacy of trade agreements over protection of human rights, health, te Tiriti rights and the environment; and the removal of legitimate regulation under the guise of lowering ‘non-tariff barriers’.

Any future trade negotiations must recognise these concerns and be founded on transparency and accountability. The government must make negotiating texts public and be accountable for the proposals they take into negotiations. There must be an independent and comprehensive assessment of the impacts of the proposed treaty on a range of social, environmental, health and te Tiriti rights before the conclusion of negotiations. There needs to be full Parliamentary scrutiny and approval processes for treaties that affect our sovereignty.

More trade and investment has become the mantra for this government’s international diplomacy. But for New Zealand society as a whole, trade and investment is a means to an end. More of these deals does not mean benefits for all. Instead, trade policies should be assessed by their contribution towards redressing growing inequality, supporting decent jobs and livelihoods, living within our ecological limits, contributing to a good quality of life and being a good global citizen internationally.

It seems like a vain hope that this Open Letter will result in real dialogue. On the occasions where the government has roadshows or consultations, citizens are talked at but not listened to. To be credible this trade policy refresh must step back from the limited scope of the terms of reference, and engage with individuals and groups in society through a process of examining the evidence and developing new aims for our trade policy. It’s Our Future has called for a real dialogue on a real review of trade policy. It ain’t over – the most important part of the campaign is yet to come.

Barry Coates, coordinator of It’s Our Future

The Open Letter and campaigns actions are on www.itsourfuture.org.nz. Join the mobilisation in Wellington on 5 November.

Barry Coates will soon step down from the It’s Our Future role and will enter Parliament as a Green Party MP, replacing Kevin Hague.