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.
The concerned Kiwis who marched in the streets of Auckland against the last TPPA signing ceremony have been caught off guard by the Government’s sudden U-turn. But this week, as Trade Minister David Parker heads to Chile to sign his name, we’ll be handing over a parliamentary petition with thousands of signatures calling for a democratic overhaul of how we negotiate trade, investment and economic integration agreements.
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.
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.
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.
As the government prepares to sign us up to the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, the country has been lulled into a false sense of security that came with our change in government and a rebranding of a not so comprehensive and progressive deal.
The Daily Blog will be live streaming the Auckland ‘Let’s not do this’ anti-TPPA meeting this Monday 6.30pm. The meeting will feature Dr Burcu Kilic, Professor Jane Kelsey and Laila Harre.
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).
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.
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”.