TPPA-11 – Let's Not Do This! Nationwide Public Meetings

The government is planning to sign the re-branded Trans Pacific Partnership deal in Chile on the 8thof March. "The TPPA may have been re-branded as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) but there is still nothing comprehensive or progressive about it", says It's Our Future coordinator Chantelle Campbell.

Under the so-called CPTPP, 22 of the most concerning provisions from over 1000 provisions have been suspended, but not removed. That’s not reassuring. These suspended provisions could be brought back into play if the United States decides to rejoin, which President Trump has not ruled out, stating to CNBC that he would reconsider the TPPA if the United States got a "substantially better deal".

It's Our Future has organised 5 public meetings around the country over the coming two weeks to allow the public to hear from the experts on what changes have been made to the TPPA and what the rebranded CPTPP will mean for New Zealand.

The first of the 5 public meetings will be held tonight in Auckland from 6.30pm at the Ellen Melville Centre, in the Auckland CBD. This will be followed by meetings in Wellington on 14 Feb, Nelson on 20 Feb, Christchurch and 21stFeb and Dunedin on 22ndFeb.

At tonight's Auckland meeting New Zealand's leading expert on the TPPA Professor Jane Kelsey will be speaking along with Dr Burcu Kilic from the US organisation Public Citizen, and former MP and Cabinet minister Laila Harré. Professor Kelsey will be speaking about what has and hasn’t changed, how this relates to other negotiations, how this relates to the new government’s review and the process in NZ on TPPA in the House and the likely timeline. Dr Kilic will speak to the medical and e-commerce issues, and Laila Harré will speak about the issues confronting the unions, and her assessment of the problems and solutions.

It's Our Future invites the citizens of New Zealand to attend one of their public meetings to learn what the TPPA will really mean for New Zealand. "It is really important that the public are informed about what our government is signing our country up to as this will affect our future generations to come" says Chantelle.

The Auckland event will also be live streamed from 6.30pm on The Daily Blog for all those who may not be able to make it along to a meeting.

For the details of all 5 meetings, please visit www.itsourfuture.org.nz

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