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Category Archives: TPPA
Five Eyes military exercise takes place under pretext of ‘Air Show’ as Jacinda Adern welcomes Obama in preparation of US joining TPPA in 2020.
From the Facebook page of Postman Investigates New Current affairs NZ Investigative News with Ben Vidgen, Glenn Holmes, John Minto, Dave Hoppy and Dai Mitchell.
The United States Air Force has confirmed its intention to have the world-renowned F-16 Fighting Falcon Jet Demonstration Team attend Wanaka from the Misawa Air Force base in Japan. Also displaying at the Airshow will be the C-17 Globemaster Demonstration Team out of Hawaii. Both the F-16s and the C-17 will operate out of Christchurch International Airport for the duration of the Airshow. Christchurch Airport is to host the Americans on the ground as according to the airshow organisers they’re unable to land at Wanaka. The RNZAF will help out with flying members of the US contingent through to the Airshow at various times over the weekend say the show’s organisers.
The timing of the visit which can expect aircraft to fly in ahead of the show coincides with the visit of former President Barack Obama and a month ahead of Hillary Clinton’s visit organized by the US Chamber of Commerce and US Business Council, the organization heavily involved in lobbying for the TPPA and believed to be in discussion regarding the reentry of the US into the treaty following the next American election (thought Trump hinted at the re-entry of USA into TPPA at Davos in Janaury this year). Therefore potentially the aircraft may also be participating in the anticipated visit by Obama to the South Island following the sighting of private jets, used in the advanced Secret Serivce of Bill Clinton during APEC 1999, in Dunedin earlier this month.
The American aircraft will not only ensure the biggest ever line up of modern military aircraft at the Wanaka airshow but the RNZAF intends to have one of the largest turnouts of its aircraft types at the Airshow. This is in addition to other Five Eyes (the defacto military arm of the TPPA) members attending the show including the Australians who are sending a Spartan transport aircraft along with Hawk Jets while the French are coming with the CASA transport jet.
Wanaka is currently also the site of a NASA facility funded by the US military, one of several facilities to pop up or expand using equipment built by known military contractors, these include the expanded Waihopai facility in Blenheim, Rocket lab in Gisborne, a private facility however funded by the US Navy, expanded tracking facilities in Bluff, among other known or suspected sites upgraded or added to in the past few years.
Further the visit by contemporary military aircraft at this year’s air show is not the only time we have seen an influx of Five Eyes military aircraft to New Zealand.
On August 3 2017,” New Zealand Defense Minister Mark Mitchell confirmed that Singapore’s fighter jets would be participating in an upcoming military exercise between the two countries. The news came as the two sides consider options for basing these aircraft in one of the country’s largest airfields for training as part of their broader effort to further their military cooperation in the coming years”. (Ohakea will also be basing a Singapore cyber intelligence unit and comes at the time Five Eyes is using Information Dominance warfare to suppress dissenting voices on social media).
Singapore is believed to have left equipment when their intelligence, cyber intelligence and artillery trained here during Operation Rolling Thunder while the USA left helicopters and other equipment here during Operation Koru in 2015. These exercises mark an escalated presence by Five Eyes security forces since 2011 including several visits by the US marines based in Hawaii. Our sources suggest this includes building barracks for the Marines (at this stage able to house 300 soldiers) in Waiouru for permanent “winter training”.
In January 2017, Singapore and New Zealand officials discussed stepping up cooperation through various ways. One of these opportunities had been for Singapore to set up a pilot training base at Ohakea Air Base, New Zealand’s third largest airfield, recently subject to a $2 billion dollar upgrade, as the land-scarce city state continues to look for other partners that can provide room for it to train its armed forces.
In February 2017 two Singapore F-15s were at the Ohakea Air Base for celebrations commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. And in June, when New Zealand’s air force chief Tony Davies paid a visit to Singapore, he viewed a static display of the F-15 fighter aircraft at Paya Lebar Air Base.
On August 3, Mitchell, the defense minister, announced that a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) training exercise hosted by the Royal New Zealand Air Force would take place at Ohakea Air Force base from 30 August to 25 September. Jacinda Adern and Winston Peters who have both confirmed their commitment to both the TPPA and the Five Eyes security alliance have yet to suggest this proposal or the 20 billion earmarked under national will be scrapped under their administration.
This month Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her ministers were working to get an exemption for New Zealand from the US’ imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminium. This supports the Postman’s claims last month that the current trade war and aluminum tariffs would be used by the USA to reinstate it self in the TPPA and have the currently suspended TPPA provision reinstated. The Tiwai smelter employs over 3000* people and is the backbone of Southland economy which generates over 20% pf the country’s gross domestic product.
Adern told reporters New Zealand had a strong case for an exemption because of its “long defense and security relationship with the United States stating New Zealand was clearly not an intended target of the tariffs, given its steel exports to the US were small. Ardern stated New Zealand’s relationship was similar to Australia’s in many ways and Australia had been given the exemption. Both New Zealand and Australia are ‘five eyes’ intelligence partners with the US.
*Tiwai’s website cites 800 employees
Sign the TPPA-11 Petition – Aotearoa is STILL not for sale
We request the House of Representatives to urge the Government to reject the resurrected Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
We request the House of Representatives to urge the Government to reject the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership, and that the House revise the Standing Orders of the Parliament to ensure the process for negotiating and signing trade and investment agreements is more democratic, independently informed, and regularly feeds information back to the Parliament and the people.
READ MORE & SIGN AT THE LINK:
What you need to know about the ‘new’ & still secret TPPA that isn’t new & doesn’t bode well for Maori, or anybody else really except of course the corporations
Ah… this is good for you but we can’t tell you how good because it’s all been negotiated in secret and we aren’t allowed to tell you what it says but trust us Kiwis … it’s good for you … Tui anyone?
Posted by Jenese James
This is a trade deal NZ should NOT SIGN – The TPPA is a corporate passport to exploit the natural wealth of a nation by ‘legally’ robbing its citizens and the environment of that natural wealth
I want to point out the reason why so many politicians promise this and that before they get elected but once in power reneg on that promise – its because of the T&C of various trade deals done through membership of various organisations often in secret – to give an example …”…..Trade Minister David Parker says NZ First’s policy of taxing bottled water exports would breach various international agreements because it is discriminatory. But there is a much bigger risk that foreign investors could threaten to bring an ISDS dispute if moves to resolve water claims affect their commercial interests….”
here is another example
“…….The new government is rushing through changes to the Overseas Investment Act to restrict foreign purchases of residential housing. They admit that the law would breach the TPPA if it was passed after the agreement came into force….”
Its vital to grasp this because this is the key to understanding how policies are now made via these agreements and why voting really doesn’t make much difference once deals are done and always these deals are not done in public view but behind closed doors in secret as this trade deal reveals it – the secrecy behind it is tantamount to a betrayal of the people because it will allow corporations to steal the wealth of the people of the nation for private profit,
example … “…….The separation of cutting rights from the land was a device used by the Labour government in 1988 to allow corporatisation of the forests and separation of the land from the trees so the forests could be privatised…..” …. this was the Roger Douglas’ cabinet.
Another example … “…Labour and NZ First want to restore the right of NZ, and Maori, ownership of the forests. They have to change the foreign investment law before the TPPA comes into force because they can’t do so afterwards…..”…
so when you protest you are protesting against a much bigger force than you realize – politicians’ hands are tied once deals are signed.
Read it all below
This is about the TTPA and Te Tiriti o Waitangi..
Written By Jane Kelsey
The state of play with TPPA
Ø The original Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was signed by the 12 negotiating parties in Auckland on 4 February 2016, in the face of a massive protest led by tangata whenua.
Ø Japan and NZ completed their domestic processes to ratify (adopt) the original agreement during 2016.
Ø In January 2017 US President Trump withdrew the US’s participation from the TPPA.
Ø The 11 remaining countries met 7 times in 2017 to rescue the TPPA minus the US.
Each country tabled a list of provisions in the TPPA that it wanted removed or suspended.
Apparently, NZ under the National government did table a list of requests, but that remains secret.
The new Labour-NZ First government, supported by Greens, only had input into these negotiations at the very end.
Labour asked other TPPA countries to suspend the right of foreign investors to sue the NZ government in offshore tribunals over new laws and policies (investor-state dispute settlement/ISDS), but it failed.
Labour did not seek to make other changes or even suspend other provisions of concern to Maori.
Ø In December 2017 in Vietnam, the TPPA-11 agreed to suspend 20 items from the original text, pending the US’s re-entry; 4 matters remained to be finalized.
Ø In January 2018 in Tokyo the TPPA 11 announced a new deal, one year to the day from Trump’s withdrawal.
Ø Canada insisted that it needed changes to protect its culture sector. Reports say it also achieved changes on automobiles, although that was not on the list. These were done through side letters that remain secret.
Ø The TPPA-11 will contain the entire old agreement. 22 of the 1000+ original provisions have been suspended, pending US re-entry, but they have not been removed.
Ø The TPPA has been rebranded the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP or TPPA-11) even though the substance is the same as the old TPPA.
Ø They intend to sign the TPPA-11 agreement in Chile on 8 March 2018.
Ø The text of what they agreed remains secret. Japanese officials say the text will not be released until after it has been signed. The National Opposition, which ran the secretive negotiations, wants the text released.
Ø In January 2018 President Trump said he would consider re-entering the TPPA, but the terms would have to be more favourable to the US than the original agreement.
Ø The process for US re-entry will require consensus. Labour says some suspended items may never be re-activated. But the US domestic political processes mean any US re-entry will inevitably require more benefits to the US, not less.
Ø The TPPA-11 will reportedly come into force after 6 of the 11 parties have ratified it by completing their domestic processes. Again, the actual text of this provision has not been released.
The new government and the TPPA
Ø Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens all wrote dissents to the majority select committee report on the TPPA and said they would not support its ratification.
Ø Labour said the economic modelling was flawed and there must be a robust cost-benefit analysis that includes impacts on jobs and on distribution, as well as a health impact assessment. Neither report has been done for the TPPA-11.
Ø Labour now claims the new TPPA-11 meets Labour’s 5 pre-conditions for change, but it does not: it provides market access for exporters (but it has no new economic analysis of net costs and benefits); it protects the Pharmac model for buying medicines (but the provisions are suspended not removed); the Treaty of Waitangi, the sovereign right to regulate and restrictions on foreign ownership of property are all protected (which they are not, see below).
Ø Winston Peters says the TPPA-11 is a very different deal from the one NZ First opposed and they will now support it. That is not true. The ISDS provisions and core protections for foreign investors that NZ First so staunchly opposed remain the same and have not even been suspended.
Ø New Zealand’s ratification of the TPPA-11 requires another round of submissions to the parliamentary select committee on which National has 4 of the 8 members, including the chair and deputy chair.
Ø If legislation is needed to implement the agreement, National has said it will vote with Labour and NZ First. The Greens remain opposed.
Ø So the parliamentary process is a foregone conclusion.
The Treaty of Waitangi Exception
The Treaty of Waitangi exception in the TPPA is a copy of one that was drafted in 2000 for the Singapore free trade agreement (FTA).
The same exception has been rolled over in agreements since then, without any consultation with Māori, even though today’s agreements impose much greater restrictions on what governments can do.
Prime Minister Ardern says NZ ‘has an exemption that says it is always able to legislate and act to protect its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and that can’t be challenged by other nations’. That is not true.
Ø The Waitangi Tribunal in the TPPA claim (Wai 2522) said the Treaty exception ‘may not encompass the full extent of the Treaty relationship’ because it only covers Crown actions that give preferences to Māori, not laws or policies that apply generally but are at least partly for Treaty compliance (water, mining, fisheries).
Ø The PM said the Tribunal found the ‘exemption provides protections for the Treaty’. That is also not true. The Tribunal found no breach of Treaty principles because the exception was ‘likely’ to offer a ‘reasonable degree’ of protection for Māori. But it did not accept the Crown’s claim that ‘nothing in the TPPA will prevent the Crown from meeting its Treaty obligations to Māori’.
Ø The Tribunal was not convinced that the exception protects Crown actions from a dispute by a foreign investor, for example on water or mining.
Ø The Wai 2522 claimants made proposals for more effective protection. These have been ignored. There has been no consultation on any stronger protection.
Ø The wording of the exception hasn’t changed in other negotiations since the TPPA. Officials say that they can’t change the wording because they tell other countries they must have this wording because it’s in all NZ’s agreements. New wording would open the text for negotiation.
Ø But New Zealand got additional new wording on UPOV 1991 at the last minute in the TPPA (see below), so it’s not true the Crown can’t demand and win different wording.
Ø Labour seems to be accepting the Crown’s advice and accepting an ‘imperfect’ Treaty protection as a trade-off for other commercial benefits it sees in these deals.
The Waitangi Tribunal claim is ongoing
Ø The Waitangi Tribunal granted urgency to the TPPA (Wai-2522) claim, but limited its scope to whether the wording in the Treaty exception provided effective protection for Māori interests. It didn’t address other parts of the claim (eg water, mining, health).
Ø The Tribunal’s time for preparing its report was cut back because the National government pushed through the legislation to implement the TPPA; once the Bill was introduced the Tribunal had no jurisdiction.
Ø The Tribunal found there was a reasonable level of active protection in the Treaty exception, but suggested there should be consultation on better protection, and it kept oversight of the UPOV 1991 issue (below).
Ø The Crown wants the Tribunal process terminated. The claimants point to a lack of good faith consultation over TPPA-11 negotiations since the Tribunal’s report and issues not addressed in the urgent hearing remain.
Ø On 30 January 2018 the Tribunal asked the parties (basically the Crown) to say by mid-February (a) when the text of the new agreement would be available, (b) what its effect would be on the Crown’s engagement with Maori on the Plant Varieties regime and adopting UPOV 1991, (c) what issues in the TPPA claim remain live, and (d) ‘when would be the appropriate time for the Tribunal to commence inquiry into the remaining substantive claims that have been filed with respect of the TPPA?
WAI 262 and the UPOV 1991 convention
Ø The TPPA required NZ to adopt the UPOV 1991 Convention that creates rights to claim intellectual property rights on plant varieties, which Wai 262 report and the Cabinet have recognized is inconsistent with te Tiriti.
Ø Legal arguments from the Wai-2522 claimants showed the Treaty exception would not protect a Crown decision not to adopt UPOV 1991, because the decision only applies to a ‘preference’ to Maori. Not adopting UPOV 1991 is not a preference to Maori.
Ø The Crown convinced the other TPPA countries to adopt an annex that allows NZ to either adopt UPOV 1991 or pass a domestic law equivalent to UPOV 1991 that complies with te Tiriti. But it has to do one or the other within 3 years of the TPPA coming into force.
Ø That obligation hasn’t changed in the TPPA-11. National and Labour didn’t try to have it suspended.
Ø The Waitangi Tribunal has retained oversight of this matter and is actively monitoring it.
Ø The claimants say MBIE’s consultation process is unacceptable and have set in train their own process for expert advice and consultation.
Foreign investors’ rights
Ø The TPPA (and earlier NZ agreements) allows foreign investors from the countries involved to challenge laws, policies and decisions of a NZ government in controversial ad hoc offshore investment tribunals (known as investor-state dispute settlement or ISDS). An ISDS tribunal can award massive damages against a government for breaching special protections the agreements give to foreign investors.
PM Ardern has called ISDS a ‘dog’.
Ø The new government tried to protect NZ from ISDS in the TPPA-11, but failed.
Ø Australia signed a side-letter with NZ not to allow their investors to use ISDS against each other. But that side-letter was in the original TPPA and in other agreements. It’s not new to Labour.
Ø The new government says some other countries will sign a similar side letter, but won’t say who. Unless all the other ten countries sign side-letters, they don’t protect NZ from the risk of ISDS disputes.
Ø A provision that allowed investors to use ISDS to enforce infrastructure contracts has been suspended (not removed); but that is marginal and doesn’t change the TPPA’s special protections to foreign investors or the ISDS process through which they can enforce them.
Ø The Treaty of Waitangi exception is unlikely to protect NZ from an ISDS case over new laws to promote compliance with te Titiri.
Ø The Waitangi Tribunal noted ‘uncertainty about the extent to which ISDS may have a chilling effect on the Crown’s willingness or ability to meet particular Treaty obligations in the future or to adopt or pursue otherwise Treaty-consistent measures.’(p.50
Ø The government points to other protections for public policy measures, but those protections don’t apply to the main rules that investors rely on in ISDS disputes.
Ø The new government has instructed officials to oppose ISDS in future agreements, which is a positive move. But that doesn’t mean it will walk away if other parties insist on it. Officials are likely to advise that any new market access for agriculture is an acceptable trade-off.
Water
Ø Trade Minister David Parker says NZ First’s policy of taxing bottled water exports would breach various international agreements because it is discriminatory. But there is a much bigger risk that foreign investors could threaten to bring an ISDS dispute if moves to resolve water claims affect their commercial interests.
Ø NZ has protected the right to adopt discriminatory measures in the TPPA-11 ‘with respect to water, including the allocation, collection, treatment and distribution of drinking water’. But it says: ‘This reservation does not apply to the wholesale trade and retail of bottled mineral, aerated and natural water.’
Ø That reservation of the right to regulate on water does not apply to the main rules that investors rely on when they bring ISDS disputes against governments.
Ø The Treaty of Waitangi exception would not stop investors challenging such measures.
Ø There is a serious risk that the government would back away from a proposed solution to Māori rights over water if MFAT or an investor from a TPPA country, says the solution would breach NZ’s obligations.
Land and forestry
Ø The new government is rushing through changes to the Overseas Investment Act to restrict foreign purchases of residential housing. They admit that the law would breach the TPPA if it was passed after the agreement came into force.
Ø In January 2018 the government also sought consultation with Maori over proposals to redefine sensitive land under the Overseas Investment Act to include forestry cutting rights.
Ø The separation of cutting rights from the land was a device used by the Labour government in 1988 to allow corporatisation of the forests and separation of the land from the trees so the forests could be privatised.
Ø Labour and NZ First want to restore the right of NZ, and Maori, ownership of the forests. They have to change the foreign investment law before the TPPA comes into force, because they can’t do so afterwards.
Ø The TPPA only allows the government to keep the categories that are subject to foreign investment vetting which exists when the TPPA comes into force.
Ø The TPPA text says the vetting applies to ‘sensitive land’. If the government wants to implement its election policy, it has to rush through these changes to the law.
Ø But if the TPPA enters into force the government won’t be able to change the investment law to address other failed treaty settlements, such as fisheries quotas, or policies like carbon credits for forests.
Ø Even if changes are made to allow restrictions on future foreign investors, any existing investors from TPPA countries could still bring an ISDS dispute claiming their rights have been breached by the new laws because they can’t get as much for selling their assets as they had expected.
‘Consultation’ and tino rangatiratanga
Claimants in Te Paparahi o te Raki (Wai 1040) have challenged the Crown’s right to negotiate international treaties without the full and equal participation of nga iwi me nga hapu.
Ø The original TPPA was negotiated in total secrecy, aside from leaks. So were the meetings after the US withdrew. National was not interested in genuine consultation with anyone, let alone recognising te tino rangatiratanga o nga iwi me nga hapu. The same secrecy continues under the new government.
Ø The Waitangi Tribunal advised the Crown to consult with Māori to make the Treaty of Waitangi exception stronger. That hasn’t happened.
Labour has kept the same exception. Labour held meetings in various cities in early December and January. But this is not a good faith dialogue: they say the TPPA-11 is the best deal they can get, no further changes can be made, and they are prepared to sign it. The ‘consultation’ can’t change anything. That’s not a Treaty partnership.
The new government says it wants to develop a ‘new and inclusive trade agenda’ that makes trade and investment work for Māori, small business, women, and address climate change, environment and regional development.
That sounds positive. But the examples it gives are clip-ons to existing agreements that don’t address, let alone override, the problems the agreements create. And they are usually unenforceable.
Labour and NZ First’s positions on TPPA and te Tiriti show that it’s businesses as usual for the Crown.
They will try to shut down the Waitangi Tribunal process, while they run consultations around the motu (eg Wellington, 12 February) to promote an agreement the majority of parliamentary parties say they will support.
Other processes to advance Titiri-based continue over UPOV 1991.
Public meetings will be held in February in
Auckland on 12th,
Wellington on 14th,
Nelson on 20th,
Christchurch on 21st
and Dunedin on 22nd.
The arguments being used to promote the agreement don’t stack up for Maori or for Aotearoa/New Zealand.
The parties that make up new government promised change. If they are going to deliver, their positions on TPPA have to change.
Professor Jane Kelsey, Faculty of Law, University of Auckland, 1 February 2018
Prof Jane Kelsey
Faculty of Law
The University of Auckland
New Zealand
J.kelsey@auckland.ac.nz
Come along and hear experts Professor Jane Kelsey, Dr Burcu Kilic, and Laila Harre speak in Auckland and Wellington, and Professor Jane Kelsey plus other speakers in Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin about what the TPPA-11 will mean for New Zealand.
Click HERE for further details of the meetings
The re-branded TPPA-11 with little changed is set to be signed in Chile on March 8th! See details of PUBLIC MEETINGS coming up
The TPPA-11 has had a rebranding to the CPTPPA (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) – yet there is very little that is comprehensive or progressive about it, and very little has changed from the original TPPA.
The 11 nations that are party to the agreement will be meeting in Chile to sign the TPPA-11 on 8th March.
Come along and hear experts Professor Jane Kelsey, Dr Burcu Kilic, and Laila Harre speak in Auckland and Wellington, and Professor Jane Kelsey plus other speakers in Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin about what the TPPA-11 will mean for New Zealand.
Event Details
Auckland:
Monday 12 Feb, 6.30pm, Ellen Melville Centre, corner of High St and Freyberg Place, Auckland CBD
https://www.facebook.com/events/865008510327414/
Wellington:
Tuesday 14 Feb, 6.30pm, Wesley Church, 75 Taranaki St, Wellington
https://www.facebook.com/events/1578636985577465/
Nelson:
Tuesday 20 Feb, 7pm, Masonic Lodge, 107 Nile Street, Nelson
https://www.facebook.com/events/1387701038008990/
Christchurch:
Wednesday 21 Feb, Knox Chruch, 28 Bealey Avenue, Christchurch
https://www.facebook.com/events/405312726576602/
Dunedin:
Thursday, 22 Feb, Knox Chruch, 449 George St, Dunedin
https://www.facebook.com/events/987240044767300/
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TPPA-11
TPPA: NZ’s Treaty obligations protected with an exemption? the PM has been ‘very badly advised’ says Prof Jane Kelsey
Video From Bryan Bruce’s TV Channel
Comment: PM Adern says: “The TPP has an exemption for NZ that says NZ is always able to legislate and act in order to preserve our obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and that can’t be challenged by other nations”.
My personal understanding is that it is corporations not nations that will challenge anything and everything they want, and we are now all aware I’m sure of how corporations basically have nations by their short and curlies. Cold comfort really. When can we ever trust a corporation? Like never? Watch The Corporation movie & see, they tell bold faced lies and their only obligation is literally to their shareholders & nobody else. Consider this, why have all their negotiations for the TPPA been conducted in SECRET? Like all the corporate council meetings these days. They’re doing/talking stuff they don’t want you to know about. Not rocket science. EnvirowatchRangitikei
A clip from yesterday’s filming of a crowd-funded documentary on Free Trade we are making in which Law Professor Jane Kelsey comments on a Facebook video by Prime Minister Ardern in which she assures New Zealanders that the Treaty Of Waitangi is protected from in the TPP-11 (CPTPP) Kelsey says ” the Prime Minister has been very badly advised” and Maori have much to be concerned about in this trade agreement.
Important notice re TPPA ‘consultation’ meetings by MFAT
If you want to slide something under the public radar, do it just before Christmas, a time worn tactic. Important info here on meetings being conducted around NZ on TPPA which by my recollection was a no go for the new government/corporation that let’s face it isn’t really new… please share this info from It’s Our Future EnvirowatchRangitikei
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The TPPA is dead!
Here is It’s Our Future’s latest update on the TPPA and it’s very good news! Please share this … EnvirowatchRangitikei
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TPPA “Key government regards the Treaty as an inconvenience rather than as the founding document of our nation…” Prof Jane Kelsey
Bryan Bruce, one of my favourites, an award winning documentary maker and best selling author, updates us on Prof Jane Kelsey’s comments on TPPA ‘progress’ as it relates to Aotearoa’s founding document the Tiriti o Waitangi – visit his website, “Knowledge is Power” for further articles.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
That Incovenient Treaty Thing Again
Professor Jane Kelsey says that the reason why the government suddenly announced it is fast-tracking the report date for the select committee considering the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) from the end of May to 4 May is now clear.
In a press statement released today she states:
“It gives the Waitangi Tribunal three rather than seven weeks to produce its urgent report on the claim brought by prominent Maori that the Agreement violates the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi”….
There’s no need for the Waitangi Tribunal to be rushed into making its decision.
As Professor Kelsey points out :
” The earliest the US Congress will consider implementing legislation is during the lame duck period after the presidential election in November.”
This shortened consideration process demonstrates ( if you were in any doubt) that the Key government regards the Treaty as an inconvenience rather than as the founding document of our nation.
And that is an insult to us all – because the thing that makes us unique in the world as a nation is that we are the people of the Treaty.
If we dishonour it – then who are we?
Read more: SOURCE
You can also read Jane Kelsey’s Press release here:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/…/government-seeking-to-stymie-repor…
Warning: New Zealand Government And Big Banks In Collusion For Farm Land Grab: The Same Scam As Run In The United States And Australia
March 11 2016 | From: WakeUpKiwi / Various
We are about to see the mass sell off of NZ farms. And 95% of them will go to foreigners under the TPPA- timed to perfection of course. You are now watching the United Nations Agenda 21 / Agenda 2030 bei…. Wake up. Share this information.
We are about to see the mass sell off of NZ farms. And 95% of them will go to foreigners under the TPPA- timed to perfection of course. You are now watching the United Nations Agenda 21 / Agenda 2030 bei…. Wake up. Share this information.
What you have seen happen in Auckland in the past 15-20 years was just the start- a test bed. The evidence here is irrefutable.
Related: Fonterra Drops Forecast Milk Payout
Possibly the most painful part of this will be watching all of the big bank / corporate sponsored ‘experts’ in the filthy corrupt media & Government try and explain it all away in terms of “interest rates” and “market forces”. Farmers are enticed into taking out loans at low interest rates which are then intentionally later raised, in a blatantly criminal plan to seize land. It worked in the US. Copy and paste in Australia. And now copy and paste in New Zealand.
New Zealand company Fonterra is the worlds largest dairy exporter, exporting products to over 100 countries
The truth is, it is an agenda planned even before the inception of Fonterra, specifically for this end goal – the ‘Globalization’ of our land and all of our natural resources – using rigged (Libor) interest rates, market manipulations, fake printed debt and various other financial frauds.
TPPA – John Key plans to push ahead with changing NZ’s laws and won’t be waiting to see if the US is going to ratify the agreement
Yesterday in Parliament I asked the Prime Minister if he is planning to change our laws to implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), even before it is clear if the US Congress will ratify it.
The Prime Minister said he was going to push ahead with changing our laws and wouldn’t wait to see if the US was going to actually ratify the agreement.
If Congress doesn’t agree to the TPPA, or if the Japanese Parliament doesn’t, the whole deal falls apart. This is because the TPPA requires ratification by countries representing at least 85 percent of the total GDP, and that means the US and Japan have to be on board.
The problem is that it’s far from clear if the US Congress will ever ratify the TPPA in its current form. A majority is currently opposed. Some members are demanding further concessions for the US tobacco industry or the big pharmaceutical companies, which would be bad for New Zealand. While President Obama is supportive, none of the Democratic or Republican front-runners to replace him support the TPPA.
We could find ourselves in a lose-lose situation where we’ve changed our laws to suit the TPPA, but the TPPA itself never comes into force so the tariffs and other trade barriers don’t disappear for our exporters.
So then I asked, if the TPPA becomes null and void because the US Congress dumps it, will New Zealand reverse the changes to our laws that we’ll have already made?
The Prime Minister’s answer was no. The Government won’t delay introducing and passing legislation to ratify the TPPA, and then won’t reverse the laws if it doesn’t go ahead.
He seems to be saying that we could be left with several alarming changes to our laws, with absolutely no trade benefit in return. These include:
- Raising the threshold at which Overseas Investment Office approval is needed from $100 million to $200 million, making it easier for overseas investors to buy up our farmland and industry.
- Changing the length of copyright from 50 years to 70 years, with an annual cost of around $55 million. We’ll also need to establish new enforcement powers for Customs, and new civil and criminal penalties for copyright infringement.
- Changes to the Patents Act, which are likely to complicate Pharmac’s access to cheaper medicines.
- Changing the Plant Varieties Act, making it harder for farmers to save seeds for use in the following season, and the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act to strengthen the rights of agricultural chemical manufacturers.
- Changes to the Tariff Act and the Customs and Excise Act – dropping our tariffs for other TPPA countries.
- Changes to the Trade Marks Act.
Thankfully, some of the most alarming aspects of the TPPA, such as the investor state dispute process that allows corporations to sue governments, don’t require legislative change. So if the TPPA does fall apart in the US Congress, we won’t have already swallowed that particular dead rat. But we will have swallowed others.
SOURCE: https://blog.greens.org.nz/2016/02/17/jumping-the-tppa-gun-could-backfire/
TPPA Updates
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TPPA – John Campbell’s real reporting on Ak’s 4th Feb protest + more video footage
Published on Feb 3, 2016 RNZ
Twelve nations met on February 4 to sign the TPP agreement – Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam – one by one, in alphabetical order.Outside the SkyCity convention centre, a protest of as many as 10,000 people raged on, with people coming together to express their views.John Campbell asked them why they were there.
A plug for John Campbell here who I’m convinced was ditched by TV3 because he was, unlike most mainstream media, vigilant in exposing lies. Broadcasting truth. Refreshing to see him again with more real journalism. Genuine journos are as rare as hens teeth now with the media owned by a mere six corporations.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Maori Protest
See who else is opposed to the TPPA & why you’re not hearing about it
Our mainstream media is carefully conveying the impression that those opposed to the TPPA are a rag tag bunch of trouble stirrers (all 32,000 of them) who are anti trade. Not so. What folks are most anti on is that the whole deal has been negotiated in SECRET. And see the map above of the many other nations that protested. Mainstream media is doing its best to shape up a bad public perception of any opposition to this trade agreement. On the 4th, the day of the protest here in NZ, the Herald invited comments to their Facebook page and bloggers found (myself included, and not for the first time) that all comments were blocked, as also was the option to share their info. They relented eventually, published a few comments then closed it to further discussion. Six media giants now own 90% of our media, controlling what we read, watch or listen to. Still think we have a democracy?
See here a list of notable people and organizations who are also against the signing. Our own Dr Jane Kelsey for one, and US Senator Elizabeth Warren is yet another (but hang what would these women know about it?) and in Germany a quarter of a million folks marched there against O’Bama’s Free Trade Agreement. And Key calls us ‘rent-a-crowd’! We are being conned folks!
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Kelsey wants opponents to keep fighting the TPPA, ‘NZ opposition strongest of anywhere’
Paul Henry interviews Prof Jane Kelsey
[VIDEO AT SOURCE]
newshub.co.nz Although the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is being signed today, there’s still a long way to go before it becomes set in stone.
Auckland University Professor of Law Jane Kelsey an ardent opponent of the deal says it’s important that protesters keep letting the Government know they are unhappy with it.
“The Government has turned a deaf ear not just to the analytical work that we’ve done, but to the views of people throughout the country,” Dr Kelsey told the Paul Henry programme this morning. “We’ve had big protests, as you know, peaceful protests, family-friendly protests throughout the country over the last couple of years… people saying again ‘Don’t sign, we don’t want this deal’.”
As a small country, New Zealand’s fate will be particularly influenced by the deal, she says.
“For us it does make a difference and from what I hear from people internationally, the opposition in New Zealand is the strongest of anywhere.”
And even though pen is being put to paper today, there is still a lot more work to be done before the deal is pushed through.
“What the Government is going to sign today, and it will sign it no matter what people say, is not going to be the end of the deal because the current text cannot get through the US Congress,” says Dr Kelsey.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren urges colleagues to reject the TPP
Senator Elizabeth Warren Published on Feb 2, 2016
Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on the Senate floor on February 2, 2016 about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.
Just one of the reasons she offers is that it will tilt the playing field in favour of big multi national corporations.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
As US Signs TPP In New Zealand, protesters also gather in 7 countries & 38 US cities!
With a massive turnout yesterday of some 32,000 protesters NZ wide, 25,000 in Auckland alone, clearly there is massive opposition to the TPPA. It’s not over yet.
Additionally, we are left to the impression given by mainstream, corporate, offshore media, that we are the only ones protesting against this deal that’s been composed in secret, without consultation with either Iwi, NZ’s Treaty partners, or the general public. We are expected to trust these people? NZ has just slipped on the corruption scale I read recently – it’s not the Pollyanna, squeaky clean nation many thought it was.
So here is evidence of protests beyond our shores, in collaboration with the world-wide opposition that is rising against this corporate robbery of our sovereignty, in the name of profits and world control.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Protests in 38 US cities and 7 Countries
“White House Protest Kicks off Nationwide Days of Action in 38 US Cities Protests Also Held In Seven Countries
Washington, DC – As the US Trade Representative signs the TransPacific Partnership on behalf of President Obama at the Skyland Casino in New Zealand on the evening of February 3rd (Eastern US time), protests are happening across the United States and around the world. See map of protests http://www.flushthetpp.org/actions/.
Several hours before the signing TPP opponents in Washington DC protested at the White House with a 24 foot “TPP is Betrayal” banner and other signs that visually highlighted the negative impacts of the TPP on the economy, environment and workers…”
Read More: http://www.flushthetpp.org/protest-at-white-house-kicks-off-nationwide-days-of-action/
John Key is a shareholder in the Bank of America – Major conflict of interest with the TPPA
John Key is a shareholder of the Bank of America (page 29 of 2015 register of financial interests for MPs) a major conflict of interest
Some interesting facts here on the conflicts of interest not only with PM Key but Tim Groser also. An interview by Vinny Eastwood with activists Penny Bright and Jacquelyne Taylor. The TPPA’s just been signed today (4/2/16) by Key, with 25,000 peaceful protesters in Auckland alone, so it’s not over yet. See what has yet to happen:
From the Daily Blog:
“Here is the step by step legislative process the Government need to undertake now Key has signed the TPPA…
Text and National Interest Analysis are tabled in Parliament
Text and National Interest Analysis are referred to Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee
Executive can ratify TPPA after the select committee reports or 15 sitting days elapse, whichever is earlier.
If legislative change is required to comply with TPPA the Executive will not normally ratify until the legislation is passed
Select committee can elect to hear submissions on TPPA
Select committee reports to Parliament
Parliament may decide to debate the select committee report
Parliament may decide to vote on the TPPA
Executive must report its response to any select committee recommendations within 90 days
Any legislative changes required to bring NZ into compliance with TPPA are introduced in a Bill
The Bill follows standard parliamentary process, normally including submissions
Executive ratifies the Agreement at a time of its choosing, normally after the Bill is passed
NZ notifies the TPPA repository (NZ) that its domestic processes are complete
TPPA comes into force when required number of parties notify completion of domestic processes”
Comrades, brothers and sisters, we can fight this abomination every step of the way, and with 25 000 turning up in Auckland alone, we have the numbers to fight this and slow it down.”
TPPA – 25 000 people protesting in Auckland today, Key now declining to go to Waitangi & what’s next with TPPA
BREAKING : After massive show of Force – John Key too frightened to go to Waitangi Day
By Martyn Bradbury / February 4, 2016
“The huge turn out has spooked the Prime Minister from attending Waitangi Day. To try and rob NZers of our sovereignty 2 days before Waitangi and then refusing to turn up because your too frightened by the reaction is gutless and cowardly. 25 000 people protesting in Auckland alone, shutting down the Harbour Bridge and major motorways for hours so that Auckland City was jammed solid…”
“No violence, just well targeted attack on the infrastructure. Police didn’t see it coming, and were over whelmed. Congratulations to Jane for her tireless leadership, all the usual leaders and planners and the new leadership team who ran the blockade.”
Here is the step by step legislative process the Government need to undertake now Key has signed the TPPA…
Text and National Interest Analysis are tabled in Parliament
Text and National Interest Analysis are referred to Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee
Executive can ratify TPPA after the select committee reports or 15 sitting days elapse, whichever is earlier.
If legislative change is required to comply with TPPA the Executive will not normally ratify until the legislation is passed
Select committee can elect to hear submissions on TPPA
Select committee reports to Parliament
Parliament may decide to debate the select committee report
Parliament may decide to vote on the TPPA
Executive must report its response to any select committee recommendations within 90 days
Any legislative changes required to bring NZ into compliance with TPPA are introduced in a Bill
The Bill follows standard parliamentary process, normally including submissions
Executive ratifies the Agreement at a time of its choosing, normally after the Bill is passed
NZ notifies the TPPA repository (NZ) that its domestic processes are complete
TPPA comes into force when required number of parties notify completion of domestic processes”
Comrades, brothers and sisters, we can fight this abomination every step of the way, and with 25 000 turning up in Auckland alone, we have the numbers to fight this and slow it down.
EnvirowatchRangitikei
TPPA It’s Our Future Update
From itsourfuture email bulletin
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TPPA – A “Family-friendly … Non-violent” March Planned for the 4th Feb
“It’s Our Future will hold a march down Queen St on Thursday 4th February. It will be loud, colourful, family-friendly and inclusive of all those who oppose the signing of the TPPA. It will be a symbol of the massive public opposition to the Key government signing the TPPA.
“Hosting the signing of the TPPA at Sky City just before Waitangi Day is a calculated move by the government, presumably with the goal of inciting violence and attempting to discredit the huge campaign against the TPPA”, says spokesperson for Its Our Future, Barry Coates.
“The Key government could have chosen a venue that would have been easy to secure and less of a symbolic target,” Coates said. “By announcing riot training for police, specifically targeted at the Sky City signing, the government has ramped up the level of provocation to opponents of the deal.”
“It’s Our Future, the network organising the main campaign against the TPPA, is not buying into the government’s game plan. We will hold a loud and passionate march down Queen St on 4 February 2016 continuing our kaupapa of family-friendly protest and non-violence.”….”
Read More: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/01/27/tppa-march-will-be-inclusive-of-all-its-our-future/?utm_content=buffer6e246&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
TPPA EXCLUSIVE: An open invitation from Professor Jane Kelsey
(The Daily Blog) Ever heard Lori Wallach talk about the stark realities of US politics on the TPPA? If you have, you won’t want to miss her again! If you haven’t, this is a once in a lifetime chance to hear her on how the US and its corporate lobby stitched us up, and sold out ordinary Americans as well. (for Lori’s bio – see here)Can the US Congress stop the deal? Will the US Congress stop the deal?
What happens if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency? Or Donald Trump (assuming that is worse … which it has to be)
Are US politicians serious that they will rewrite the deal after it is signed by setting rules for ‘implementation’? What would that mean for Kiwis?
Lori is arriving Tuesday morning for a speaking tour starting Tuesday night 7pm at the Auckland Town Hall in the lead-up to the planned signing in Auckland on 4 February. Then off around the country to Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin in a whirlwind tour. Sponsors (so far) are Its Our Future, ActionStation, and New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, as well as great local anti-TPPA groups.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/01/23/exclusive-an-open-invitation-from-professor-jane-kelsey/#sthash.pOtZciOo.dpuf
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Ahead of TPP signing: NZ Police have been undertaking riot training … we are not a democracy
So… ahead of the TPP signing on February 4th coming up, we have our corrupt government/corporation ensuring any dissenters to this closing of a secret deal get smartly rapped over the knuckles! or other parts of the body … we have the appearance here of Police State beginnings as per the US of A. The initiators of the said ‘agreement’.
Bryan Bruce has summarized this news item so aptly:
“Negotiate the TPPA deal in secret.
• Refuse to listen to legitimate concerns about the undemocratic process.
• Produce a document that allows multi-national corporations to override our health,environment,employment and copyright laws.
• Invite the co- conspirators to our country to sign the deal close to Waitangi Day ( when we celebrate the founding Treaty of our nation – now seriously undermined by the TPPA).
• Hold the signing in a Casino and not Parliament.
• Bring out the riot squad if anyone objects.
Brilliant.
P.S. Oh- and while your at it , make sure you fly that new corporate logo flag on the day the foreign trade ministers get here. We don’t want people looking at our current flag and wondering what happened to the rule of law.” (SOURCE)
Bryan Bruce is an award winning documentary maker and author. You can visit his website here: http://bryanbruce.co.nz/news See his award winning docos ‘Inside Child Poverty’ and ‘Mind The Gap’. Links on his website.
Read the Herald article:
TPP: Police undertake riot training
New Zealand Police have been undertaking mass riot training ahead of the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in Auckland next month.
The trade agreement, that has sparked widespread controversy due to its closed-door negotiations, will be signed by international diplomats on February 4.
Dozens of large-scale protests have been held across the country as the five years of negotiations for the deal came to a close in the US last year.
The Herald understands that increased riot training – officially known as public order training – has been taking place ahead of the signing, as police prepare for more possible civil unrest.
Police Association vice-president Senior Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said that the TPP signing was the focus of annual public order training.
Read More: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11578174
For info and links on the TPPA: https://envirowatchrangitikei.wordpress.com/tppa/
EnvirowatchRangitikei
Important TPPA Updates
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TPPA – important notices & dates for upcoming events
PLEASE SHARE THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION!
Things are warming up on the TPPA front with plans by the powers that be to sign on 4th February and it’s rumoured … at the Skytower. They will be keeping that under wraps for sure. I’m just mailing out the public notices regarding events from FB who have asked folks to share. Likewise do share these notices, email to your friends, tell the neighbours. The more on board the better. There are NZ wide meetings you may consider attending if possible. For further updates here go to the TPPA news page. Do please let me know if I’ve missed anything or if there’s anything you’d like shared, either here or on FB if you’re not a member. EnvirowatchRangitikei
A blogger writes … “So as some of you may or may not be aware. Our country is about to be sold on February 4th. Informers from Chile say the signing of the TPPA will be held here @ the skytower in Auckland New Zealand. When it is signed, our basic human rights will be stripped of us! They will sell the land, our home to foreign countries, more mining, water and air rates, prohibited to grow your own organics, loom seeds will be banned, prohibited to live off grid, not allowed to feed and clothe homeless, or to help poverty, etc etc.. as if they want to decrease population and destroy our mother earth sooner..shit that’s in humane! NZ citizens are calling for a march larger than ever. If you care about your children’s future, seek out sources for more info. And take one last stand!
Even though the TPPA may commence…as Tangatawhenua, we have to live trying to prevent such events, in respect of our forefathers who dedicated their lives for our current slice of freedom. And also regarding the future of our Pepe’s…please don’t ignore this.” SOURCE
IMPORTANT MEETINGS COMING UP
THE UPRISING 2016 HIKOI against the TPPA. 11am FEB 4 Lower Queen St – Myers Park / Sky City. Nau mai Haere mai e nga iwi o te motu
LIKE&SHARE
GET THE WORD OUT
UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL!!.
(SOURCE)
TPPA – ItsOurFuture latest updates for Kiwis
Updates from itsourfuture.org.nz : this is the site’s newsletter |
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It’s Our Future: TPPA News Bulletin
Cited straight from It’s Our Future’s mail update … sign up here to receive their updates to your mailbox: http://itsourfuture.org.nz/news/
(Clearly the rumour was correct for signing of the TPPA here in NZ).
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It’s rumoured Auckland is hosting TPPA signing on Feb 4th – a call to action
A TPPA update here from the ActionStation website:
“Big news! I have heard through the political grapevine that Auckland will be the host of the official TPPA signing ceremony on February 4th. That’s just 50 days away! Plans are underway for one heck of a welcome party, so watch this space.
Behind the scenes here at ActionStation we’ve been working hard to build our crowdfunded TPPA information website. [1] The website will launch in early January and is designed to make it easy for you to understand and share what the TPPA means for everyday New Zealanders, as well as influence the parliamentary process of ratifying (formally signing) the deal (as much as we can with this flawed and undemocratic process).
The website will feature information drawn from peer-reviewed analysis of the 6000-page agreement currently being conducted by the New Zealand Law Society. [2] That analysis is then handed to our team of volunteers and paid helpers who are putting it into language we can all understand, without a law degree.
Currently, 54% of polled New Zealanders do not want us to sign the TPPA. [3] Our goal is to bring that number up to 65 – 70%, with the help of this website and all of you…
Let’s keep this momentum going in 2016, because we have a lot more good to do together.
Thank you, for everything,
Laura, Marianne, Nina and Ryan”
See Action Station’s end of year update video HERE
References:
It’s Our Future: TPPA News Bulletin
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TPPA – Over Ten Thousand Kiwis Protest Nationwide
A massive turnout of kiwis at 17 actions around the country have sent a strong message to the Government saying ‘TPPA, Don’t Sign’, according to It’s Our Future.
“The Government has spent the last five weeks since TPPA negotiations concluded on a comprehensive PR mission to tell New Zealanders that this deal is supposedly in their best interests. Today, over ten thousand kiwis nationwide proved that PR mission has failed,” said It’s Our Future spokesperson Edward Miller.
“New Zealanders have learnt not to swallow the ‘Trust Me’ propaganda peddled by Minister Groser,” said Edward Miller.
“For the past six years we’ve been told about a gold-plated El Dorado trade bonanza. This has failed to materialise, yet the corporate wishlist has weaved its way through the completed text.”
“Now that we have the TPPA text it’s becoming clear that this deal as is bad as we’ve been expecting. Kiwis haven’t been fooled,” said Miller.
Links to further News:
Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch 
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