Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Council calls for transparency and consultation on TPPA

Auckland Council calls for transparency and consultation on TPPA

Today the Auckland Council’s Regional Strategy and Policy Committee passed a resolution on the recently concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). The resolution calls on the government to release the final agreed text of the agreement and consult before further decisions are taken.

Barry Coates, a spokesperson for the It’s our Future campaign, presented at the Council meeting. He welcomed the Council’s decision: “There has been too much ill-informed debate about the TPPA and too much misleading government spin. The Council has called for the facts to be put on the table.”

The Council passed a previous resolution on the TPPA in December 2012 which called for assurances that the negotiations would not undermine local government’s role in providing public services and supporting local economic development, or prevent the Council from requiring high standards for environmental protection, employment rights and community participation. The Council called for New Zealand businesses not to be disadvantaged compared to foreign investor or suppliers.

These assurances were not given. Eight Auckland Local Boards recently passed resolutions calling for follow up, joining 14 Councils across New Zealand, representing over 60% of New Zealand’s people. During a heated debate on the motion, Councillor John Watson said that local government should not be one of the dead rats that needed to be swallowed in order to get a TPPA deal.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

Barry Coates commented: “Councils have raised valid concerns about the TPPA which have been ignored. Their concerns have been confirmed by leaks of draft texts which have revealed that a wide range of local government decisions on zoning, permits, licences, contracts, environmental protection and procurement are likely to be covered by the TPPA. Councils have been signed up to potentially costly and restrictive rules by the Minister of Trade without being consulted.”

“Councils are also at risk from their decisions being overturned by foreign corporations bringing cases in an international tribunal under the Investor State Dispute Settlement mechanism, and demanding compensation. Over 600 cases have so far been taken against governments, including the local government cases, under similar agreements to the TPPA.”

Councillors were informed that a recent Canadian case (Bilcon v Canada) awarded US$300 million to a US mining company that was refused a licence by Nova Scotia on the grounds that it was incompatible with community values.

Barry Coates concluded: “The government’s public relations spin on the TPPA agreement has deliberately misled the media into reporting a rosy picture of economic success. The market access benefits have been over-hyped and the potential costs from the TPPA have been downplayed or hidden. The text of the final agreement is still secret and it is too early to conclude whether or not New Zealand will benefit economically. The non-economic risks are far more serious.”

“The TPPA is a Trojan Horse agreement. The loss of government powers to protect the public interest are hidden in the shape of a free trade agreement. This deal will benefit multinationals but undermine democracy and the ability of local and central government to protect people and the environment. The government must immediately release the final text and negotiating documents.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On The Government's Assault On Maori

This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Audrey Young in the NZ Herald has compiled a useful list of the many ways Christopher Luxon plans to roll back the progress made in race relations over the past forty years. He has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. More


 
 


ACT: Renews Call To Abolish Human Rights Commission

“The Human Rights Commission’s appointment of a second Chief Executive is just the latest example of a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy serving itself at the expense of delivery for New Zealanders,” says ACT MP Todd Stephenson... More

Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.