Category Archives: TPPA

TPPA – It’s Not Over Yet! Nationwide day of action – Saturday November 14th!

Contrary to media spin, the TPPA has not officially been signed yet. This is from itsourfuture.org.nz regarding the upcoming national day of action.

EnvirowatchRangitikei

sat14

14 November is another Nationwide Day of Action against the TPPA!

“The political tradeoffs have been done and the text has now been sent to Tokyo to undergo the ‘legal scrubbing’ process. As we expected there are very few trade benefits, while the deal gives corporates and foreign investors a lot of power to run roughshod over our democracy.”

But it hasn’t been signed, and the fight continues!

Lead up to Day of Action Events

Whanganui – Saturday 7th November – Community Picnic

Christchurch – Monday 9th November – Christchurch Welcomes Tim Groser

Day of Action Events Saturday 14 November

Kerikeri – 2:30pm at Kerikeri Library

Auckland – 1:00pm at Myers Park

Hamilton – 1:00pm by Cock and Bull Te Rapa

Tauranga – 11:00am at Red Square

Rotorua – 1:00pm, location TBC

Gisborne – 1:00pm, location TBC

Palmerston North – 1:00pm, location TBC

Wellington – 1pm at Midland Park

Christchurch – 1pm, location TBC

Little River – 1pm, location TBC

Dunedin – 11am at the Railway Station

More locations to come!

SOURCE

A Senior NZ hospital doctor silenced on TPPA (Whanganui)

wdhb_logo“The Whanganui District Health Board has summoned a senior hospital doctor to a disciplinary meeting because of his views on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists …Whanganui DHB tries to stop senior hospital doctor talking about the TPPA

The Whanganui District Health Board has summoned a senior hospital doctor to a disciplinary meeting because of his views on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS)…“It’s outrageous that this health board apparently considers its unacceptable for doctors to express an opinion on matters affecting patients and their ability to deliver the best possible health care to New Zealanders,” he says…”

Read more


COMMENT:

This article from itsourfuture.org.nz clearly illustrates who the Government departments (former, they are now largely corporations) are in bed with. Why should a medical doctor not be speaking up about risks to customers regarding the TPPA Trojan Horse? Because their employers are in bed with corporate entities. NZ was once a welfare state in reality, now it is in name only, care for all is now a distant memory.

Prior to previous governments’ borrowing from the IMF our nation had free health care for all, free education and full employment. We looked after our own. That has all gone as our current generation fully pays for the conditions hidden within those loans … corporatization, privatization, the flogging off of our assets and the ultimate outcome … we are now the tail and not the dog. The borrower is servant to the lender. Goodbye sovereignty, hello debt slavery. This TPPA is basically the final nail in the coffin. We’ve been sold out completely by our government/corporation NZ. 

EnvirowatchRangitikei

The TPPA – “sets a dangerous precedent for democracy” – signed but not over yet

Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

“For decades Oxfam has campaigned for trade rules and intellectual property standards that give poor countries a fair deal, such as protecting their right to access affordable medicines for public health. Despite mass public mobilisation against it, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) was signed in October 2015. We believe the deal sets a dangerous precedent for democracy, transparency and future trade agreements.
“Oxfam joined a High Court case asking the New Zealand Government to release the secret text before it was signed. We also highlighted the potential harm the TPPA could bring in terms of poor people being able to access life-saving medicines, governments being accountable to the will of their people, and multinational corporations challenging government laws to protect public health and the environment.

In December 2013, 26,000 signatures were handed in, calling for release of the draft text. Then in August 2015 a petition of 100,000 signatures was delivered to Parliament.”

– See more at: http://www.oxfam.org.nz/what-we-do/issues/trade/tppa#sthash.abWmPTWi.dpuf


“The TPPA is nothing more than a power grab by overseas corporates, and delegates should actively campaign against it …” (Stephnie de Ruyter, Democrats for Social Credit)


Other News on the TPPA

TPPA Signing Should Be Treason

“The incredible irony is that in Greece, where former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was putting together a monetary system to enable Greece’s collapsing economy to continue to function in the event that the European Troika threw them out of the Eurozone, he is facing charges of treason”.

“In New Zealand, where the prime minister and trade minister are willing to sign an agreement enabling overseas corporates to sue taxpayers for loss of profits, they are likely to be awarded an honour by a future government”.

Read more:  http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1508/S00095/tppa-signing-should-be-treason.htm


COMMENT:

If you’re not up to speed with the TPPA and what it means visit itsourfuture.org and sign up for updates. Watch this short clip also from Youtube:

We will be further in the mire as all with any insight know and have been loudly telling us for years literally. This is a Trojan Horse for the corporations and as always with the aforementioned, they veil their plans in great sounding rhetoric. ‘Good for us all’ is their cry and ‘nothing to worry about’ which, does not add up given the whole negotiation process has been BEHIND CLOSED DOORS! They wanted us not to worry about something they refused to share the details of, with those whom it will most concern. Go figure fellow Kiwis! This is just not rocket science. Corporations are about power and control of all resources so that … they can maximize their profits … bottom line. If you’re not familiar with the machinations of corporations visit the Corporations page on the site and educate yourself by watching the documentary there entitled ‘The Corporation’.  Oh, and remember, your country is a corporation. 

EnvirowatchRangitikei

Tens of thousands of people turn out to protest against the TPPA

With failed talks in Hawaii recently with regards to the free trade agreement, Kiwis turned out en masse today in many parts of the country to protest the whole deal that has thus far been carried out in secret. Ostensibly a free trade deal, it is a doorway that will give corporations open slather to sue us if we threaten their profit making margins … something they are already doing in other countries. Educate yourself on this issue … it is important. Here are links to various news reports throughout the country.

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Tens of thousands turned out today in NZ to protest the TPPA

“The thing about this crowd is there’s children, there’s babies, there’s Maori there’s people from India, there’s trade unionists, there’s health professional, politicians, there’s professors, singers. It’s amazing. All of New Zealand is represented here. There’s no group you could say didn’t turn up today.”  NZ Herald

“Documentary filmmaker Bryan Bruce sent a clear message to Tim Groser and the National Party today on the grounds of Parliament: ‘If they sign this deal they will be gone in the next election. We will not forget and we will not forgive them… ‘ ”   SOURCE


Source: ONE News
In Auckland thousands of protesters turned out in the rain to march from Aotea Square down Queen Street.
Further south in Christchurch thousands of people turned out in the wet at Hagley Park to march up Riccarton Road, medical students, teachers and marketing executives among the crowd.
In Otago a large group of protesters marched through Dunedin’s CBD.
Protests today end an action week by those opposed to the proposed deal.
Rallies were also planned in Wellington, Kataia, Hokianga, Whangarei, Hamilton, Colville, Tauranga, Whakatane, Napier, New Plymouth, Featherston, Nelson, Timaru, Little River and Invercargill.
In Nelson, some of the protesters formed a choir to sing their message…”

Read more & watch related videos: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/tpp-protesters-push-through-barriers-at-parliament-q05743?post_id=10204858404079493_10205039977458714#_=_


Sign up and stay informed at It’s Our Future website here: http://itsourfuture.org.nz

And/or at our TPPA page here: https://envirowatchrangitikei.wordpress.com/tppa/


Dairy access stalled as TPP talks get more serious … NZ Herald

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact does not yet include an acceptable deal on access for New Zealand’s most important exports, dairy products, with little more than a month to go before the controversial 12- nation trade deal could be concluded.

“I think the way I would describe it is there’s a deal….”

Read the article here:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11469377

For further information on the TPPA and how it will affect NZ if signed, visit the TPPA page on this site.

For all updates from Prof Jane Kelsey at itsourfuture website go here: http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/tag/professor-jane-kelsey/ 

Could the TPPA make the smart meter situation in NZ worse?

This article is from the stopsmartmeters NZ website:

Copy of Hamilton-Smart-Meter-1b

“The smart meter situation at present in NZ is not good.

Companies in the electricity industry are putting in smart meters as fast as they can.  Not surprisingly, considering the fact that the pulses of RFR that smart meters produce can be intense, some people develop new symptoms after these devices have been installed at their own home…”

“…Unfortunately the NZ government has indicated that it plans to sign this agreement.  The text of the TPPA is still secret.  However, from the small amounts of information that have been leaked into the public domain, it is clear that the agreement would favour the interests of large corporations and is potentially  a disaster for any country that signs it… “

Read the article at the SOURCE

The TPPA’s Dirty Little Secret: How US could write NZ’s Laws

The TPPA’s Dirty Little Secret: How US could write NZ’s Laws

From Professor Jane Kelsey, a press release dated 13 August 2014. NZ has a protest day tomorrow 7th March against the TPPA. Still everything is top secret and warning bells are continually being sounded as to what will be in store should this agreement go ahead. It is being negotiated on our behalf without our consent. Visit the website …itsourfuture (links on the TPPA page) to discover your nearest organized protest and do attend if you can

The Article:

“‘Effectively, the US claims the right to decide what a country’s obligations are under a trade and investment agreement and refuses to bring the agreement into force in relation to that country until it has changed its laws, regulations and administrative processes to fit the US interpretation’, Professor Kelsey explained.

Statements from members of US Congress and the US Trade Representative (USTR) suggest prime targets for New Zealand would be our copyright and patent laws, the foreign investment vetting regime, the procedures by which Pharmac operates, and Fonterra’s ‘anti-competitive monopoly’.

‘The other eleven governments are aware of the certification process and many are concerned. But no one has told the public how the US can effectively redraft our laws.’

Professor Kelsey has co-authored a memorandum that draws on the experience of countries that have been subjected to the US certification process in recent years.”……

“‘In other words New Zealanders, including MPs, might never know that the US was involved in writing our laws and demanding the right to sign them off even before Parliament gets to see them’, Professor Kelsey warned.”

Read the rest at the SOURCE

WINSTON PETERS: PM SACRIFICING NZ IN THE NAME OF BIG BUSINESS WITH TPPA

10409587_693254227425307_8039441717606772693_nFrom Radio Live NZ … Winston Peters is warning about the repercussions in store if John Key signs NZ on to the TPPA.

“The big corporations are so close to governments, not only in New Zealand, that they have handed over many details of the Trans Pacific Partnership while the public in the negotiating countries are kept in the dark. These corporations are about to get unbelievable powers over New Zealand if the PM keeps his favourite hat on.

The treaty will be signed by the National government, not by Parliament.”  Read Article at SOURCE

Check out what the TPPA entails & why you should be involved in opposing it (ideas about how, HERE). Raise awareness in your community, attend the day of protest coming up on March 7th (details & links on the TPPA page here).

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) – What Will it Mean for Kiwis?

TPPA

Are you familiar with the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement?

With our choices regarding a healthy environment becoming increasingly more constrained as corporations gain ever increasing control over governments, (or corporations that are parading as governments … NZ is a corporation and is registered as such with the SEC in Washington, along with most of our former ‘government departments’), the agreement known as the TPPA looms as an even greater threat to freedom of choice.

Limited liability corporations have morphed into giant behemoths that enjoy virtually guaranteed immunity under a body of corporate law built up over more than a century. They owe their first allegiance, not to the public, but to their own shareholders, and their number one mandate is to maximize profits.The TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) is an agreement that our PM intends signing on behalf of all NZ citizens, with neither our consultation nor our consent. Negotiations around this agreement  are taking place right now between our leaders and large multinational corporations in total secrecy. If signed, from the little we know that’s been gleaned from leaked documents, this trade agreement will give corporations even more control … and we New Zealanders, whom it concerns most … even less.

Read more about the TPPA and how you can become active in opposing it ….. HERE