Poll shows most NZers want to end secret TPPA negotiations
Poll shows most New Zealanders want government to
end secrecy of TPPA negotiations
“The
secrecy surrounding the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership
Agreement (TPPA) has been given a resounding thumbs down
in a Consumerlink poll conducted in mid-November”,
according to Professor Jane Kelsey, a critic of the TPPA who
commissioned the poll.
Almost two out of three New
Zealanders think the contents of the latest and biggest free
trade agreement should be made public before the
negotiations are completed and any deal is signed.
Of those that have an opinion, four times as many
favour advance publication of the text that New Zealand is
negotiating with ten other countries towards a Trans Pacific
Partnership agreement.
The poll conducted by
Consumer Link shows 65% of New Zealanders think the
Government should make the contents of the agreement public
before the negotiations are completed and the agreement is
signed, 14% do not mind if this does not happen, and 21%
have no opinion.
Dr Kelsey called on the
negotiators to recognise their secretive approach to these
negotiations lacks democratic legitimacy when they meet for
another round of talks behind closed doors at Sky City on
Monday, and release the text and supporting documents so
people can read, analyse and debate what is being proposed
by our elected leaders.
“Contrary to what
negotiators claim, this is not unprecedented. Even the much
criticised World Trade Organization is a beacon of
transparency compared to the TPPA”.
Calls for
release of the draft text have repeatedly been rejected.
“These calls are not just from civil society
groups, although negotiators have received appeals from
organisations across the TPPA countries that represent tens
of millions of people who would be affected by the
agreement.”
“New Zealand’s opposition parties
have also objected that their democratic functions are
being usurped by secret talks on rules that would tie the
hands of governments for the indefinite future.”
The Green
parties of Canada, Australia and New Zealand have
labelled the TPPA “fundamentally undemocratic and
untransparent.” Winston
Peters has called for negotiations to be put on hold so
New Zealanders can debate the implications for sovereignty,
and the Mana
Party has called for release of all details.
Significantly, a remit
adopted overwhelmingly at last month’s Labour Party
conference made support for the TPP conditional on “full
public consultation including regular public releases of
drafts of the text of the agreement”.
The US
Congress has been even more vocal. In just the past four
months, President Obama has been bombarded with letters from
Democrats and Republicans whose support he would need to
pass a TPPA.
Back in March, Senator Ron Wyden tabled a
legislative amendment seeking disclosure of US negotiating
positions and proposals on intellectual property or those
proposals relating to the Internet be made available, unless
release of the documents would pose a national security
threat. This is highly significant. Wyden is a conservative,
pro-free trade leader who has supported all previous US free
trade deals and chairs the Senate Subcommittee on
International Trade, Customs and
GlobalCompetitiveness.
“The poll shows New
Zealanders want the TPPA to come out of the shadows and face
a solid dose of democratic scrutiny. Our government and the
other ten TPPA countries should listen”, concluded
Professor
Kelsey.
ENDS