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Urgent TPPA hearing critical to honouring Treaty
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Runanga: 23 July 2015
Urgent TPPA hearing critical to honouring
Treaty
It is critical that the Waitangi Tribunal agrees to an urgent hearing into allegations the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, says Council of Trade Unions Vice-President Māori Syd Keepa.
“There has been a huge amount of concern amongst Māori and the broader community about the implications of this agreement. Many Māori have expressed their concerns around how the TPPA will affect the rights described in Wai 262: Ko Aotearoa Tēnei. Could the rights of foreign investors override the rights of tangata whenua,” asks Keepa.
“If the government is serious about its benefits then it should be willing to open up discussion with Māori in the appropriate forum.”
“Instead the Crown has said it is too late in the TPPA negotiation process for a Waitangi Tribunal hearing. This puts a trade treaty ahead of our founding Treaty.”
“The government cannot be allowed to sign away our tino rangatiratanga,” says Keepa.
ends
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.
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