Giving away our sovereignty

IT LOOKS like the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement will take up some time over the next year as the empowering legislation goes through the parliamentary processes.

Some of those who are anti the agreement will continue to accentuate their opposition with disorder, accusations, the odd bit of violence and the odd attack on property and people.

We have seen it before with some of the same faces even as far back as the Springbok Tour in 1981, when some also used violence to make their point - turned over police cars, set some fires, threw explosive and nails, and made threats to public safety.
One of the catch-cries of this debate has been about a loss of sovereignty.

Nobody seems able to articulate what that means other than an impingement on the rights of New Zealand to be able to make laws within its own jurisdiction. This impingement coming from the terms and conditions of the TPP or the need to consult other countries about some new laws, and the right of member countries to make submissions to our government before laws are struck - in the same way Labour leader Andrew Little made a submission before the Australian parliament recently.

Whenever we sign a contract as an individual, a company or an organisation, we give away a little sovereignty.

If we sign a contract to buy a house, we can't choose to change our mind once the contract has gone unconditional. We may get out of the contract, but only by paying a penalty.

If we have a trade contract as a business to supply certain products, we can't chose not to supply that line of merchandise, or to market them any way we like, sell them under cost, compete in somebody else's franchise area because that would be in breach of the terms and conditions of the agreement we have signed up to. We have ceded some of our individual sovereignty, and we can only reclaim it by avoiding the contract - getting out of it.

It is fundamental to the joining of any multi-lateral agreement that sovereignty is limited to some degree as long as the member states stay in the agreement "club".

Membership of the United Nations and being signatories to a number of its conventions, such as the rights of women, rights of the disabled, rights of children - as well as agreements not to do things such as build or use certain weapons in war - are all impingements on our sovereignty.

Having a Westminster system of government aligns us with the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights penned in the 1600s and contravention of provisions in these documents may well put us at odds with the partners we share in the United Nations or the Commonwealth.

We can get out of the TPP by giving notice and, thereby, getting back a little bit of that sovereignty. But in doing so, we cannot retain the benefits of the agreement. Nobody seems to be suggesting that we leave the United Nations or the Commonwealth because we have ceded sovereignty. We don't like the domestic or foreign policy of many of the countries in the United Nations or the Commonwealth, but we still belong.

We don't like the marketing policies, the products or trade strategies of every country in the World Trade Organisation, but we stay in it. We have used its appeal provisions and sanctions regime to protect access to foreign markets and push our claims for exclusion and we have won.

Under the TPP countries can maintain environmental standards and health standards and regulate against the use of products. They can take account of historical treaty provisions such as the Treaty of Waitangi, and they can penalise foreign purchases of land and other forms of investment through taxation.

In effect, they retain autonomy in spite of ceding a small amount of sovereignty, as any country does by membership of the myriad of multi-lateral agreements previously agreed to.

People may disagree with the TPP for any number of reasons - that is their right. But they will have to find some other reason than loss of sovereignty unless they want to exit any number of international collaborations we are proud to affiliate with.

-Chester Borrows is the MP for Whanganui.