Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader

15 October 2013

TPP Secrecy Creates Serious Risks

Rt Hon Winston Peters has warned that the secrecy surrounding the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement negotiations means future New Zealand governments could be trapped, without warning, at the mercy of multinationals.

Mr Peters raised the issue in Parliament again today and again called on the Government to publicly release details of the on-going (TPP) negotiations so that the public can see what rights the Government is giving away.

The Prime Minister chaired the recent round of the negotiations and Mr Peters says the “scary” aspect of this is that John Key has a track record of bending over backwards to help big multinational corporations.

“Although countries involved in the negotiations publicly stated that they would ‘intensify consultations… to craft a final agreement that appropriately addresses the interests of our citizens’, there has been a deafening silence from the Beehive.

“New Zealanders are deliberately not being told what interests and rights are being negotiated.

“If it’s good enough for the members of the United States Congress, and the Malaysian Prime Minister to enable the Malaysian Parliament to have updated briefings on the TPP negotiations, why won’t John Key do the same for New Zealand MPs?

“This Government is negotiating away our future without any scrutiny whatsoever,” says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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