Media release

Vital for Parliament to support Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill

“It is vital that all members of Parliament support the Fighting Foreign Corporate Control Bill that New Zealand First has introduced,” says CTU Secretary Sam Huggard.

The Bill would stop New Zealand governments from allowing overseas investors to sue New Zealand governments in private offshore tribunals if their profits are threatened by government actions or court decisions. Such provisions, called “Investor State Dispute Settlement”, would be part of the Transpacific Partnership Agreement if it is signed, according to leaked drafts of its Investment chapter. It is part of the recently concluded agreement with South Korea which is being signed by the Prime Minister in the coming week.

“Giving overseas investors this extraordinary power over elected governments, our laws and our court system is a totally unacceptable breach of New Zealand’s sovereignty. It would particularly hit progressive governments which want to improve the lives of working people and protect our environment. It gives some of the most powerful and wealthy corporate forces in the world even more power,” says Huggard.

“There has been a rapidly increasing number of cases, with awards to investors in some cases of billions of dollars. Even if they don’t succeed they make governments reluctant to act in their people’s interests.”

“We have seen that with the Government delaying the implementation of the anti-smoking plain cigarette packaging legislation because Philip Morris is taking one of these actions against the Australian government. Previous Australian governments of both political colours refused to have such provisions in their international agreements on advice from their Productivity Commission.”

“The German government is refusing to have such provisions in future treaties because it is being sued for phasing out nuclear power. South Africa is also refusing to have such provisions because such actions have attacked its laws that address the disadvantages of the black majority created by racist apartheid.”

“We urge all political parties to support the New Zealand First bill,” Huggard concluded.

ENDS

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