Monday September 10

Protests haunt Helen Clark and the USNZ Partnership Forum

Protests against the USNZ Partnership Forum began early this morning and will continue throughout the day as peace activists, trade unionists and social justice campaigners converge on Auckland.

A rally and march will begin at 12noon in Aotea Square and march to the venue of the USNZ Partnership Forum to protest against New Zealand seeking a free trade agreement with the United States.

"A free trade deal would put all of New Zealand up for sale to US corporations", Our World Is Not For Sale campaign spokesperson Ryan Bodman said.

"If a US-NZ trade deal looks anything like the recently negotiated Australian-US free trade deal then our public services will be up for privatisation, local content quotas removed from TV and radio and environmental protections removed."

"We also don't think the Labour government should seek a trade agreement with a government that continues to wage war in Iraq. The Prime Minister herself has labelled this war as 'wrong'." says Ryan Bodman. "Trade agreements should not be negotiated with governments violating international laws and treaties."

ENDS

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