There is an agenda afoot to sell off this country and recently we have seen three developments that are connected to that agenda. The selling of state assets, the TPP and the opening up of exploitation of oil and gas seem to have a momentum that is relentless. They really want to push these through - why is that I wonder.
A great speech by Hone regarding the government selling of our assets. Now is the time to sign the petition and keep the pressure on.
Scoop
But the really surprising thing to me, is how long it has
taken us to wake up to the fact that selling off resources
and assets and services built up by generations of New
Zealanders will leave our children and our mokopuna with a
future almost too bleak to contemplate.And yet such is
the future that this bill and this government, offers us
all.
Mr Speaker, MANA opposes this bill to sell off 49%
of the shares in Mighty River, Meridian, Genesis and Solid
Energy
The opposition is widespread but the fasttracking of the legislation shows the government can't afford to give way on this. If they did their TPP dirty deals mas suffer for instance, and they are dirty indeed. Gordon Campbell has an awesome post on the TPP, as he concludes
Scoop
Right. In sum, the public has very good
reason to feel concerned about (a) the adequacy of the TPP
investor state dispute panels (b) the secrecy in which the
TPP discussions are being pursued and (c) the emptiness of
the Trade Minister’s assurances that everything will be
hunky dory. If there is nothing to fear, why the secrecy?
Can Groser at least give an assurance that before a document
that will bind present and future New Zealand governments is
signed, it is submitted to Parliament for scrutiny – and
if not, why
not?
They will also find it stickier trying to sell off the exploitation rights to oil and gas. As the ODT says
Oil and gas exploration companies have until October to
submit exploration work programme bids for one or more of the
23 areas, covering just over 40,000sq km of offshore seabed
and more than 3300sq km of land in Waikato, Taranaki, Tasman,
the West Coast and Southland.
These developments are connected, as well as many more that struggle to see the light of day. We have seen the backdown with teacher/student ratios, but these issues
are more hidden and have less direct impact on averagekiwi. Key knows this and he has to hold the line - unless we force him not to. Time to up the ante and disturb key's comfort zone and the best way to do that is noise - visual and auditory, consistant and focused. We can do it, we can stop them - we will stop them.
Professor Jane Kelsey is leading the battle against this TPPA. Prime minister key has been spotlighted and with the next round of secret negotiations in Chile starting on 14 february, who knows what else they will give or sell away. This change of position from key would allow the government to be sued. Are you happy with this maori party? Do you actually believe that this is good for maori?
Voxy
In November last year, Prime Minister John Key described as "far-fetched" the idea that investors could sue the New Zealand government directly in a secret international tribunal to enforce rules in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). This week, US trade negotiator Barbara Wiesel said that was no longer New Zealand's position, according to TPPA critic Professor Jane Kelsey. In response to questions about New Zealand and Australian positions during a briefing to civil society in Washington on 31st January Ms Wiesel said "New Zealand had retracted the Prime Minister's statement. It is not their position."
What does it mean?
The Key government is happy for pharmaceutical firms in the US, Australian banks or Singapore-based Brierley Investments to sue the New Zealand government for millions in compensation if they think new laws or policies are unfair or unreasonable or erode their profitability", said Professor Kelsey.
Why the change in position?
"Either John Key did not know what his negotiators were proposing to do when he described investor-state enforcement as "far-fetched"; or he was lying to the New Zealand public; or he has buckled to pressure from the US, and possibly his own Minister and officials, to agree."
And why is this so important?
"This proposed bill of rights for foreign investors is even more frightening when government has announced assets sales and privatisation of ACC, policies which failed in the past and required the government to step back in."
Some may say that all of these areas are unconnected but just watch - they are all connected - when brownlee said the 'for sale' sign was up he was deadly serious.
I've mentioned the TPPA here. This agreement is very dangerous for all of us and it is astonishing that the country positions, including this country's, won't be known until after they sign and it cannot be changed - what are they hiding?
Frogblog
The governments of nine countries are currently negotiating in secret for a far-reaching agreement called the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). John Key’s Government doesn’t want us to see the NZ position or any of the text until it is signed and sealed and cannot be changed.
The TPPA is being branded a free trade agreement, but trade is only a minor part. As well as trade, the agreement covers foreign investment rules, empowering foreign companies to sue our government, opening our services to more international competition, restricting our right to regulate, pharmaceutical costs, intellectual property rights, and preventing use of government procurement to help local firms.
It would give special rights to foreign investors, including the ability to sue governments for passing laws that might affect their profits – like Philip Morris is threatening against countries that have introduced plain packaging of cigarettes – and threatens the survival of Pharmac that makes medicines affordable to New Zealanders.
Civil society groups, like TPP Watch, are currently campaigning to have the draft texts of the TPPA and the various country positions released for public scrutiny.
Go here to read the open letter to prime minister key. Sign on to the Release the Text campaign here.
Hat tip - Frogblog
This Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is very dangerous for us. Framed in the language of trade, it is a not so stealthy method of taking everything that they haven't taken so far.
Press Release Te Wharepora Hou
Te Wharepora Hou, a group of Maori women based in Auckland, supports civil society groups from Australia and New Zealand that are opposing the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
Similar free trade agreements have had a devastating impact on the rights & lives of Indigenous peoples around the world. Indigenous peoples have been criminalised and rights to their lands and resource have been ignored.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is colonisation by corporation. Maori and Pacific Island communities have already borne the brunt of neo-liberal economic restructuring in the 80’s and 1990’s.
The TPPA will intensify and increase these negative economic impacts In our communities and as a result are hugely over-represented in all negative indices. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is part of the neo liberal structural adjustment programme to diminish and extinguish Indigenous rights forever.
The TPP represents a significant and; disruptive challenge to Maori.
As wahine Maori, our long and deeply-held traditional values and understandings of collectivity, of manakitanga , of kaitiakitanga (Caring for Earth Mother), for Tangaroa (god of the sea) and for their children, is in direct opposition to what is being proposed in the TPPA. The New Zealand government does no have the right to negotiate away our Treaty rights and our rights as Indigenous peoples.
The selling off of our mokopuna and their future must stop.
I agree with those statements.
From TPPA Watch
Why should we be concerned about the Trans-Pacific Partnership?
If these negotiations succeed they will create a mega-treaty across nine countries that will put a straightjacket around what policies and laws our governments can adopt for the next century.
Which countries are involved in these negotiations?
As of November 2010 there are nine: in addition to the US and New Zealand, there are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
What could the TPPA affect?
Everything from foreign ownership of land and resources, including mining licenses, media laws and support for local NZ content, Treaty settlements, control of financial speculation, the price of medicines, to compulsory labelling of food, plain packaging of cigarettes, privatisation contracts for water, prison, schools and hospitals under public private partnerships (PPPs) …
How come it is described as a ‘trade’ agreement?
That’s a clever branding exercise. It is really an agreement that guarantees rights to foreign investors that operate out from any of the TPP countries – think entertainment (Warners and Sony), pharmaceuticals (Merck and Pfizer), mining (RTZ and BP), tobacco (Philip Morris), retailers (Wal-Mart and Woolworths), finance sector (Merrill Lynch, Westpac, AIG, Macquarie, JP Morgan), agro-business (Cargill, Monsanto), private water operators (Bechtel, Veolia) and much more.
They want what we have - so they can make money.
Hat tip - Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua
