VIDEO: PM predicts TPP impact

Prime Minister John Key has insisted the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will benefit the Bay of Plenty by removing tariffs on exports to some of the world's major economies.

As talks on the deal reach their conclusion among negotiators from the 12 countries involved, the PM used his visit to Tauranga yesterday to outline why the much-criticised agreement would assist the region's finances.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the opening of the Tauranga Eastern Link yesterday. Photo & Video: Tracy Hardy.

'You produce a huge amount of food in this part of the world,” said Key at the opening of the new Tauranga Eastern Link on Thursday, 'and you have got the most efficient port in the country.

'So on both fronts, you have got huge gains to be made if you have better access to the international markets.

'If you take kiwifruit, for example, which is grown in this part of the world, TPP nations will want to buy more of that. You can see how difficult it is to operate when Free Trade Agreements (FTA) aren't in place.

'The Korean FTA will eliminate the 45 per cent tariffs that kiwifruit growers currently pay. And it's very difficult to complete when your goods have a 50 per cent premium added on to them when you're your competitors don't.

'That's ultimately what free trade is about. We are never going to sign New Zealand up for something unless it is in our best interests.

'Free trade is all about prosperity, jobs, income and opportunities. Frankly I back New Zealanders and New Zealand business to succeed when they are given that equal platform.”

Key added that the TPP is New Zealand's opportunity to get a free trade agreement with the biggest and fourth biggest economies in the world.

'We are four and a half million people at the bottom of the ocean and we are not going to get rich selling things to each other,” he said.

'But we have a great chance of making our country wealthier, underpinning jobs and prosperity if we can sell on an equal basis to four and a half billion people.”

However, concerns surrounding the agreement are coming from local government, with Tauranga City Council among 11 local authorities to adopt a resolution on the controversial deal.

The councils, representing 60 per cent of the New Zealand's population, adopted a 12-point resolution, including protection of local councils' ability to make their own decisions, protection of the environment and biosecurity standards, and protection for the Treaty of Waitangi.

The resolution was developed by Auckland City Council in 2012, reacting to the implications of the TPP that, on a literal reading, required NZ to forego sovereignty.

While the text of the agreement has not been officially released, Wikileaks has posted evidence which suggest the bulk of the agreement is not about trade.

Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey says the leaked text confirms the worst fears of the agreement's New Zealand critics.

'The deal gives foreign investors from the TPP countries special rights,” says Jane, and the power to sue the government in private offshore tribunals for massive damages if new laws, or even court decisions, significantly affected their bottom line.

'Prime Minister John Key once described the idea of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) as ‘far-fetched'.

'After he was briefed about the TPP he changed tack, promising there would be effective safeguards.

'But the leaked text shows very little has not been agreed. That means the New Zealand government has accepted virtually everything the US has proposed with absolutely no effective safeguards.”

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6 comments

Told you...

Posted on 31-07-2015 21:46 | By penguin

...that there would be the usual rhetoric from Key and others. While the rest of the country faces the reality of TPP, Key continues his simplistic existence on his Planet Denial where the cuckoos nest and the piglets compete for air space with drones. Come to think of it, the inhabitants of Planet Denial do


TPP Signing

Posted on 01-08-2015 16:37 | By Jitter

If the TPP turns into an unmitigated disaster for NZ, John Key will simply resign and he and his family will desert NZ and go and live in the land of "far far away". Why do you think he has been pushing the new flag controversy ? Takes all the pressure of the TTP until it is too late. It is only recently that people have been asking to see all the terms and conditions of the agreement, suddenly realising what it could mean (negatively) to all NZers.


Profit above all else

Posted on 05-08-2015 15:34 | By space cadet

"The TPP regime ensures that foreign investors and multinational corporations retain full rights to undermine the sovereignty of participatory nations by skirting domestic regulations and limiting the abilities of national governments to issue independent economic policy. There has never been such a sweeping corporate assault on sovereignty...." Should that not be enough for anyone with a brain to realise the disadvantages might just be greater than the advantages? And yet 'the New Zealand government has accepted virtually everything the TPP has proposed with absolutely no effective safeguards.' Profit above national sovereignty - what a great deal that is!


not just another free trade agreement

Posted on 16-08-2015 16:17 | By ronillian

The TPPA is likely to affect 40% of global GDP. This is huge. And yet many Kiwis have never heard of the TPPA what's more know what the acronym TPPA stands for. It's about time we had a say in this. Why all the secrecy about it if it's such a great agreement for NZ??? Why should corporations have access to the text but people who will be affected and have their sovereignty and democracy undermined do NOT. It doesn't add up. Like others, I say: Walk Away from the TPPA.


Show Us The Facts

Posted on 18-08-2015 14:37 | By Merlin

Show us the facts on the advantage not just this believe me stuff John wrecktorwreck Key before our control of our destiny is controlled by big overseas corporations.


Free trade? NOT!

Posted on 19-08-2015 14:03 | By ronillian

Let Groser and Key try to characterise all opponents of the TPPA as anti-free trade; but it should be pointed out that there is very little in this TPPa that is actually truly about free trade: i.e. removing tariff barriers and promoting free trade. No! From info we have from leaks, 24 out of 29 clauses are about investor state dispute settlements (allowing corporate and investors' interests to trump public interest), intellectual property protections, copyright protections etc. It's time we New Zealanders woke up & took a stand before it's too late. This TPPa horror will undermine our sovereignty and will hamper our govt from taking effective action in the public interest to protect our environment, protect workers' rights, protect consumers, protect public health, etc etc.


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