Dear friends, We have just days to stop NZs government from selling out our democracy. Trade ministers are packing their suitcases for a trip to finalize the deal -- but we can stop them from putting profit over people. Send a message directly to the Labour leader, whose party is having an intense debate on the TPPA and needs to hear from us in order to push this into the public eye: SEND A MESSAGE In days the New Zealand government could sell out the people of Aotearoa and hand the reigns of our democracy over to foreign corporations -- if we dont stop them. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), which negotiators want to begin wrapping up next weekend, would be a massive gift to corporate power at the expense of Kiwis everywhere. While some 600 US corporate lobbyists have been hand-writing the deal, our MPs dont even have access to the secret texts! We do know it would would undercut a vast array of our laws: affordable medicines, Internet freedom, the right to stop fracking, GE food labeling, Smokefree NZ -- virtually any law that puts people over profits is at risk. But theres hope -- insiders say that there is intense debate within Labour on the TPP, but if they unite against it, we could get the voice in Parliament needed to push this out of the shadows in the next few crucial days, making it harder for Trade Negotiation Minister Groser to sell us out. Tell the Labour leader and the government that they need to stand up for our sovereignty -- send a message now: avaaz.org/en/selling_out_nzs_democracy/?bfjtidb&v=31913 This wouldnt be the first time weve seen back room deals at our expense -- Sky City Casino, privatisations despite overwhelming opposition, the go-ahead for deep sea oil drilling by Anadarko, millions for the Comalco smelter but nothing for those who died at Pike River mine. But the TPP would be worse than all of these combined. It would set up a system of opaque tribunals that let foreign corporations sue our government -- similar quasi-courts are how Philip Morris sued Australia for cutting their deadly trade, and undermined Quebec’s moratorium on gas fracking that protected peoples health and safety over the profits of foreign fossil fuel companies. These are just two examples -- literally hundreds of similar cases that have funneled hundreds of millions in damages to the likes of DOW and Exxon. The draft text is so secretive that not even law-makers know what’s in it! We’ve known all along that there’s a lot at stake, but weve had to rely on leaked text, most recently from Wikileaks, to understand precisely how much. Now the battle lines within the negotiations are out in the open. hey show our government has taken strong positions on some issue and sold us out on others, and expose the dangers of their trust me approach to this deal. This weeks summit is for strong-arming governments to wash away those lines in the sand with glorified bribes. If this all sounds crazy, lots of smart people would agree -- Chiles Parliament unanimously criticized the process, Australia has so far held out against allowing another route for corporations to circumvent their democracy, and economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz says its a bad deal. But its got friends in powerful places -- Obama and the world’s biggest front for greedy corporations, the US Chamber of Commerce, are hellbent on wrapping things up before January. Some of our political parties have also spoken out, but we need Labour to get on board in order to keep them from getting steamrolled by PM Key. Our voices right now, while governments are being bought in closed door meetings, could make the difference. Send an urgent message now: avaaz.org/en/selling_out_nzs_democracy/?bfjtidb&v=31913 It can be easy to feel small in the face of big forces -- and big interests -- driving our governments. But people, not money, are the true source of their power. Last year 750,000 people sent a message to TPPA negotiators to stop this deal. Nows the critical moment for us to speak up. Let’s join together, once again, and bring our power to stop this unprecedented threat to our democracies. With hope, David, Jooyea, Alex, Aldine, Julien, Ricken, and the Avaaz team SOURCES: Fact Sheet: 10 Ways the TPP Binds NZs Future Choices (Its Our Future) itsourfuture.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/10-Policy-Issues-Gen-.pdf Leaks show US, NZ disagreements on TPP (TVNZ) tvnz.co.nz/business-news/leaks-show-us-nz-disagreements-tpp-5709419 TPPA end game can only come from dirty compromises (NZ Herald) nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11164328 Secret TPP Negotiations Resume in Salt Lake City (Electronic Frontier Foundation) https://eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/secret-tpp-negotiations-resume-salt-lake-city Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (Wikileaks) wikileaks.org/tpp/#QQG6 The Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty is the complete opposite of free trade (The Guardian) theguardian/commentisfree/2013/nov/19/trans-pacific-partnership-corporate-usurp-congress
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 08:20:56 +0000
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