ARENA
Action, Research and Education Network of Aotearoa
PO Box 2450 Christchurch

Prominent Free Trade Critic, Professor Jane Kelsey, to Address Public Meeting in Timaru

Minister for Trade Negotiations and Aoraki MP Jim Sutton thinks that opponents of free trade and investment have "rocks in their heads". Timaruvians will be able to hear another side of the story at a public meeting next week.

On Thursday 22nd February, Dr Jane Kelsey, Professor of Law, Auckland University, author of "The New Zealand Experiment" and "Reclaiming The Future" (Bridget Williams Books) and one of New Zealand's most prominent critics of globalisation will address a public meeting in Timaru entitled "Who pays for free trade?: Timaru in the global free market economy".

The meeting is jointly organised by a new national organisation, ARENA (Action, Research and Education Network of Aotearoa) of which Dr Kelsey is a founding member, Christchurch-based GATT Watchdog, and the Service and Food Workers Union (Southern). It forms part of ARENA's "Nothing Is Inevitable" tour with other meetings being held in Christchurch, Nelson, Whangarei, Hamilton and Wellington during February and early March.

"Part of ARENA's priority this year is to hold meetings in smaller centres on globalisation and social justice, and to promote informed analysis and public debate on this issues. In the 1980s, we were told "These Is No Alternative" to Rogernomics. Since then, successive governments have tried to lead the world to a mythical nirvana of free trade and free markets, regardless of the social, economic, political, environmental and cultural costs. Around the world, the myth that globalisation is inevitable and benefits the poor has been throughly discredited. The tide is turning as people everywhere demand a better future," says ARENA spokeswoman, Leigh Cookson.

The public meeting starts at 7.30pm, Thursday 22nd February at the Timaru Trade Union Centre, 56 Banks Street, and media are welcome to attend.

To arrange interviews, or for further details, please contact: Leigh Cookson (ARENA and GATT Watchdog) (03) 3812951 or 025 6627174

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