September 22, 2015
Secrecy on TPPA challenged
Opponents of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreements are gearing up for a High Court hearing next week on the secrecy surrounding the massive trade and services deal.
Ngati Kahungunu Inc, Oxfam and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists are among the parties backing the judicial review of the blanket refusal by the Trade Minister Tim Groser to release eight categories of information sought under the Official Information Act by University of Auckland law Professor Jane Kelsey.
Professor Kelsey limited her request to the type of information the European Union Ombudsman recommended for release in parallel negotiations between the United States and the European Union.
She says Government claims such secrecy is a normal part of international trade, but past negotiations such as the General Agreement in Trade and Services involved a far greater level of openness.
"And more recently Tim Groser himself welcomed the release of a negotiating text on intellectual property that had been kept secret and he said this is good for democracy, so he knows this is not the way it is always done, but what they are trying to do is make that into a truth because they know they can't actually get support for the deals if it had to be done in the public domain," she says.
Jane Kelsey says the government and executive is increasingly making backroom deals in secret that affect the lives of New Zealanders, such as negotiations over the Sky City convention centre and the future of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.
Copyright © 2015, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com