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May 05, 2016
MP response pathetic at tribunal about to report on TPPA
Waatea Team
Posted On May 5, 2016
Jane Kelsey says the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade committee wrote the report while submissions were still being heard because the Government wanted it out early to put pressure on the Waitangi Tribunal.
The tribunal’s report, which is expected later today, was also written in a rush so it could come out before the bill ratifying the agreement is introduced to parliament.
Professor Kelsey says the government majority on the committee might as well have not bothered attending the hearings, because their contribution to the report is drawn almost totally from the national interest analysis tabled in parliament by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and trade.
Opposition parties have done minority reports questioning the economic modelling, the fact New Zealand won’t be able to ban foreign purchasers of residential housing, and the secretive way the agreement was negotiated.
She says the TPPA has drawn an unprecedented groundswell of criticism from health professionals, economists, Maori, unions and the tech industry, which the government has treated with contempt.
Professor Kelsey says an independent inquiry is needed into the treaty-making process.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
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