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Thursday, December 06, 2012

Dear Everybody - you're not really going to let Key sign the TPP eh?

The US trade delegation opening speech at Trans Pacific Partnership cocktail evening.

Dear Everybody

There's a moment in the Simpsons where Lisa Simpson asks Ned Flanders, "You aren't really signing power of attorney over to my Father are you"? And I feel that we've reached that point with the Trans Pacific Partnership.

I appreciate I'm to the left of most, and there's always an issue I'm banging on about, but all of you out there aren't seriously going to let Key sign this 'free trade' deal with America are you?

The Trans Pacific Partnership is going to strip us of the ability to make laws that benefit us. Did you know the only reason we can't have a quota of NZ content on TV, is because of earlier free trade deals that view that as protectionism?

If we sign the TPP, the Pharmaceutical Industry will be able to sue decisions by Pharmac if Pharmac chooses a cheaper medicine than they are offering. Read. My. Words. If Key signs the TPP, our medicine prices will rise for no other purpose than US corporate profit. The bloody agreement is designed to use the ability to challenge a funding procurement decision by Pharmac to intimidate the process and add the legal costs of their challenge to factor into the contract.

Gordon Campbell with this weeks must read on what the TPP will actually allow...

Essentially, the drug companies plan to use the TPP to expose Pharmac’s decision-making processes to challenge by other clinicians, and to create a subsequent route of appeal. First, to question the clinical evaluations being made by Pharmac’s PTAC committee beforehand, and then to legally challenge Pharmac’s subsequent pricing and subsidy decisions. This is what the drug companies mean when they use the cheery-sounding euphemism “transparency”

...the TPP will open Pharmac up to legal challenge, why on earth would we sign this?

Let's also be clear about Key's claim that this deal would make us $3billion. Well on the final iPredict Show last year, Tim Groser was clearly saying that Key's claims were false...

and in his June 2011 speech Groser said, Let me put down a marker: I ‘look forward’ with a certain weary sense to the inevitable attempts to ‘model’ the gains from TPP in some econometric model. I am a deep sceptic here.

Key's claims of this deal making us billions is not the message our trade negotiator gave the US embassy in a cable leaked on Wikileaks that complained NZ got nothing from the deal and that convincing NZers of a benefit would be the challenge.

I get that hollow feeling that John is going to return from town having sold all our cows for a handful of TPP magic beans.

If Key signs the TPP, our medicines go up, our ability to subsidize movies like The Hobbit is gone and protecting our SOE's will not be allowed.

The witch kings of the Nazgul all flew into town this week. The 5 spy chiefs involved in the Echelon spy program all met in NZ while Key pretended to not know who they were. Their meeting on the eve of the TPP should remind us that this isn't just a one sided trade deal, it's also a security leash that we are being integrated into with all the subtlety of the Borg.

This is America out of control wanting to stamp their claim on us in the face of a rising China.

Free Trade with America is like clean coal and good cancer. None of them exist.

You're not really going to let Key sign this eh?

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7 Comments:

At 6/12/12 10:53 am, Blogger MemeSpree NZ said...

Two points.

1) What do you want us to do about it? Who are the relevant MPs to write to? Modern netizens (including myself) are busy, and need this information bundled into your article in one easy to find and digest place. A mailto: link would be a big help.

2) Can you please provide a link to the Wikileaks document you refer to? I'd like to read it myself.

This is a huge issue, and I really want to help, I just need you to do these two things for me.

 
At 6/12/12 10:57 am, Blogger Unknown said...

Sounds good in principle
Can you outline steps we can take to get the power back from these cronies or the get MSM to take this seriously and informing the sleeping mass of Nu Zulanders who dont give a flying about anything anyway?
I mean it - what do we/I do about this?
I write letters - I feel marginalised by the responses I get. I am stumped!

 
At 6/12/12 2:52 pm, Blogger Frank said...

Re this quote,

"This is what the drug companies mean when they use the cheery-sounding euphemism “transparency” "

Funny that the same transparency doesn't aopply to TPP negotiations? Why is that, I wonder?

As to folk asking what they can do about it, my response is simple; do what you're doing now - but do MORE of it!

Key's email addrress:

john.key@parliament.govt.nz

NZ Herald's email address:

letters@herald.co.nz

And encourage others to do likewise!

 
At 6/12/12 4:14 pm, Blogger Nick Taylor said...

You could (as I am) make a formal complaint to TVNZ

http://www.mediaworks.co.nz/Default.aspx?tabid=288

about their utterly reprehensible failure to the people of NZ, in not covering this.

They spend weeks and weeks on "the beast of blenheim" or sports stories or any crime with a young woman in it, or drumming up moral panic over "teenagers out of control" or disasters that happened years ago or celebrity gossip etc etc...

... but TPPA is a corporate invasion, just as surely as if there was a fleet of battleships on the horizon... and the most they're doing is saying "it's controversial".

It's not good enough.

 
At 6/12/12 5:02 pm, Blogger Frieder said...

The leaked cable:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1012/S00171/wikileak-das-reed-engages-on-tpp-un-envfiji-apec.htm

"Regarding New Zealand domestic issues surrounding the TPP, Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Mark Sinclair emphasized that it has been a long-held objective of the Government of New Zealand to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, and there is a public perception that getting into the United States will be an ""el Dorado"" for New Zealand's commercial sector. However, the reality is quite different, said Sinclair, since the United States is already quite open to New Zealand trade and investment. He underscored that New Zealand needs to manage expectations in this regard. In addition, Sinclair said that although New Zealand has already negotiated many free trade agreements, it is the first time New Zealand will negotiate an agreement that will open so many political sensitivities with a partner government."

 
At 6/12/12 7:00 pm, Blogger Nitrium said...

I certainly don't need any more convincing. This thing has cronyism/Corporatocracy written all over it, and will result in damage to our society that may never be rectified. But there is so preciously little we can do about it, short of a revolution which so very rarely results in a system better than what you're trying to replace (e.g. Egypt, Libya, Russia). I think we just have to face the facts - NZ and its Government has been co-opted by cronies (and worse), and we just have to hope that their voters wake the fuck up, vote them out, and hope the damage that has been/is being done is reversible.

 
At 9/12/12 11:04 am, Blogger Unknown said...

TRESPASS THEM UNDER THE TURE WHENUA. Q.E.2 ROSE TO ROYAL ACCENT GRANTING US THE POWER. WE JUST HAVE'NT DONE THIS YET. GET A 218 VESTING ORDER THRU THE M.L.C. TAKE THE BLUE PILL AND SEE HOW FAR THE RABBIT HOLE GOES.

 

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