Media Release For Immediate Use 26 September 2000

"Prague Style Protests to Hit Aotearoa if Singapore Deal Continues"

Tino Rangatiratanga advocates attending the Prague anti-World Bank, anti-IMF protest say that New Zealand will face the same types of action if the Government pursues the Singapore Trade deal. The Aotearoa delegation is in Prague as part of the People's Global Action group (PGA), a coalition of activists from around the world. The PGA meeting will coincide with that of the IMF/World Bank annual meeting.

"The fight against globalisation and neoliberalism is the continuing struggle against colonisation, and like our ancestors before us we will resist!" said South Pacific Convenor Teanau Tuiono

"Instead of colonisation by countries we are seeing the colonisation by companies this neo-colonisation is being given an easy ride by governments obsessed with 'freeing up' the market. In Aotearoa New Zealand the Government is making moves to take away indigenous rights to lands, rivers, fish because this would be a fetter to foreign investment. This resulted in protest and occupation of lands when a payout called the 'fiscal envelope' was pushed by the Government threatened to extinguish indigenous rights. The irony of this is that it is was less about the theft of indigenous land and more about paving the way for overseas corporate investors. A number of tribal elites have played into the hands of these new colonisers and will one day reap the ill seeds that they have sewn".

Fellow Convenor Waiariki Grace elaborated, "This process moves power from the government to the private sector. This transfer of power to the private sector reduces the role of the government, but does not inherently challenge the statist world, although it does remove much of its monopoly power. The aim behind this is to reduce restrictions on private enterprises to allow them to move factors of production as they wish. The key international institutions which encapsulate and articulate such ideas include, the World Trade Organisation, Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, reinforced in different areas of the world by their regional offices, this is not about people it is about money"

Action on the 26th of September follows the trend of growing resistance to neoliberal policies worldwide seen most recently in Melbourne, Australia against the World Economic Forum.

For further comment contact: Aotearoa Educators: (Aotearoa/New Zealand) Tauni Sinclair: Ph: 021 409 540 (Pacific) Teanau Tuiono, email: tuiono@paradise.net.nz (Australia) Maria Bargh, email: maria.bargh@anu.edu.au (Hong Kong) Helen Te Hira, email: matapi@hotmail.com

A CALL TO THE GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION SEPTEMBER 21-28 AGAINST IMF/WORLD BANK! http://www.agp.org/agp/praha/

Tino Rangatiratanga web site: http://aotearoa.wellington.net.nz/back/intro.htm

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