Tauranga to speak out against TTPA

Tauranga residents concerned about the impact the upcoming Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) could have on local democracy and decision making will gather in a stand against the Government this weekend.

The event will take place at Red Square at 1pm with information and speakers available about the agreement, believed to have been made from secret negotiations.

It's Our Future spokesman Edward Miller said concern about the TPPA crossed a number of areas of public life.

"Some are worried about the price of medicines. Others about the impacts on local libraries.
Tangata whenua are battling to uphold their Treaty rights against foreign mining companies. City councillors and unions fear that more local jobs may go and workshops close as government buys offshore," he said.

"But for many, it is simply a matter of democracy and sovereignty. The TPPA puts our sovereignty at risk, violates our democratic right to decide our own future, and wastes taxpayers' money that should be spent on social, not corporate, welfare. It needs to stop.

"After four years of talks, the corporate deal of the century - aka the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement - is still being negotiated in secret," he said.

The Tauranga event is part of a national day of action against the TPPA, which is being coordinated by Its Our Future, and is supported by the Green, New Zealand First, Maori and Mana parties. Formal sponsors include Oxfam, Greenpeace and the Council of Trade Unions and a number of individual trade unions and organisations.