12 February 2015
JOIN THE NATIONWIDE DAY OF ACTION ON SATURDAY 7 MARCH
THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE
TO TELL THE GOVERNMENT
TPPA? NO DEAL!
The situation is serious.
TPPA Ministers are due to meet from 13-15 March 2015 - somewhere!
The officials met in New York in late January to prepare the ground.
The only things that can stop them are –
no deal between the US and Japan on agriculture or US!
URGENT: The political end game has begun …
The technical part of the TPPA is now largely over. There is a short list of controversial decisions that ministers needs to make involving issues like patents medicines, copyright and state-owned enterprises. It’s is
crunch time.
Things that matter to New Zealanders may have already been agreed.
There is some good news – the international campaign has fought off some of the worst of the US demands. But the bad news is the governments may have agreed to other demands, including the right of foreign investors to sue governments through the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process. The best chance to stop the TPPA is before ministers make their decisions.
That’s why there is a nationwide day of action the week before they meet. Send a message, loud and clear, to Trade Minister Tim Groser:
TPPA? NO DEAL!
What you can do!
Actions are currently planned in 14 towns and cities on Saturday 7 March. We need to get even more people out than in November, which was massive. Spread the word, bring your whanau, and get involved with the local organisation. For details go to
www.itsourfuture.org.nz/th_event/7-march/
Or contact Chantelle Campbell, who is coordinating the national activities for March at
chantellec@xtra.co.nz>
TPPA meetings around the country before 7 March:
- 17 Febuary, 6:30pm Auckland in the St Paul Street Gallery Three (Symonds Street)
- 17 February, 7:30 Christchurch - "TPPA & Investor-State Dispute Settlement: What is it, what does it mean for NZ, and how do we voice our concerns" at the A3 Lecture Theatre at University of Canterbury - https://www.facebook.com/events/1539489286319991/?ref=4
- 4 March, Wellington Fabian Society on TPPA, 5:30pm at Connolly Hall, more details to come
- 5 March, 6:30pm Auckland Fabian Society will be organising an event at the University of Auckland on TPPA , OGGB Lecture Theatre 260-098
We are planning more of these meetings in the next little while, so keep your eyes peeled!
If EU can release texts for TTIP why can’t NZ release them for TPPA?
The EU has agreed to release its negotiating documents on the mega-deal with the US called TTIP, and will release the text before it is signed and ratified. The comparison of
secrecy in TTIP and TPPA is stunning and puts paid to any claims from Groser that you can never negotiate such deals in public. The
EU Ombudsman went further, saying the negotiating texts should be released NOW to enable fully informed participation.
Watch this space ….
Select Committee hears TPPA petition for release of text - 4 years late!
Today (12 Feb) Parliament’s committee that deals with treaties like the TPPA (Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee) has heard a submission from 16 groups that was presented in 2011! It has been postponed three times before! Speakers from NZCTU, Public Health Association, and Oxfam called for release of all documents, including draft text.
See press releases from
Professor Jane Kelsey, the
Council of Trade Unions, the
Public Health Association,
NZ First, and coverage from
Radio NZ.
Heads-up: submissions to stop Investors rights to sue
Are you incensed that foreign investors will get special rights in the TPPA and can enforce them in secretive offshore tribunals! You will soon have a chance to tell the government that we should never agree to that in any agreement. It is included in the NZ-Korea FTA that is about to get tabled in Parliament. There will be a whole new weblink dedicated to the investment issue shortly to help you make a submission and do more.
Again, watch this space ….
How the US screwed Australia in their FTA
More about the dirty trick called ‘certification’, where the US holds off making the deal effective until the other country does what the US demands – this time how the
US made Australia pass new copyright laws with just 24 hours notice at the select committee. The Hobbit law shows how easily that
could happen here.
Japanese lawyers launch constitutional challenge
Japanese lawyers have launched a constitutional challenge to the TPPA, claiming it breaches the legislature’s supreme lawmaking powers, the role of the courts, and various human rights, and compensation for any harm it causes.
