Tuesday, March 3, 2015

TRANS PACIFIC TRADE PACT ENDANGERS AUSTRALIA

Suddenly the  Australian media has discovered the TPTP  secret  talks are  a danger to  the  nation's sovereignty  and yet  nobody in the media and parliament   has grilled  the  Trade Minister , Andrew Robb , and Prime Minister ,Tony Abbott , about  the  matter. Last year, this blog drew attention to the fact  that  across  the Tasman  the  smarter  and  more alert  Kiwis  were  marching  in Auckland  against  the  TPTP . Weeks ago , the  not for profit  American Nation of Change  ran   several  posts  , one  with  a  video, saying  that the TPTP  is designed to enhance the powers  and  profits   of  multinational  companies  with disregard  for  the  nations  involved  in  the  proposed  deal, including the USA.

One of  the posts was  headed WHY IS HUGE TRADE  DEAL  BEING KEPT SECRET? Prominent  American  political commentator and author  , Jim  Hightower ,    mentioned  previously   in  Little Darwin , had  this  to say in Nation of  Change:
  
This thing   TPTP  is a supersized and nuclearized NAFTA ( North American Free Trade Agreement ), the 1994 trade scam rammed through Congress by  Bill Clinton, Wall Street's Robert Rubin, and the entire corporate establishment. They promised that the"glories of globalization" would shower prosperity across our land.

They lied. Corporations got the gold. We got the shaft--thousands of factories closed, millions of middle-class jobs went south, and the economies of  hundreds of towns and cities (including Detroit) were hollowed out. --Twenty years later, the corporate gang that stuck us with NAFTA is back, hoping to fool us with an even more destructive multinational deal. This time we really must pay attention, because TPP is not just another trade deal. First, it is massive and open-ended. It would hitch us immediately to 11 Pacific Rim nations (Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam), and its door would remain wide open to lure China, Indonesia, Russia, and other nations to come in. Second, note that many of those countries already have trade agreements with the US. Hence, THIS AMAZING FACT: TPP is a "trade deal" that mostly does not deal with trade. In fact, of the 29 chapters in this document, only five cover traditional  trade  matters! (ends)

It has been clearly shown that  the proposed deal  would enable drug companies to keep   prices  of   pharmaceuticals  high ( Canada has already been challenged   for  taking  steps  to lower  drug cost ) ; tobacco companies   could  oppose   plain  labelling  of cigarette  packets ; Australia could  face  court action  for  passing  legislation  to protect  the health of  the populace ,  food  packaging  regulations ... on and on it goes . Wake  up  Australia.

Incidently, it was  Australia's own hero ,Julian Assange , now locked up like the  man in the iron mask in the Ecuadorian   Embassy in London , while we Aussie's ,  mesmerised by fireworks, football, cricket  and the gowns  worn  by  bimbos at  assorted  US and Australian circuses and  do not raise  his  plight , who  first leaked  parts  of  the  secret TPTP, dealing with intellectual property  and  the environment , which  clearly  indicated  it  was a  picnic for  lawyers  and  multinationals .

Assange , widely  quoted in America ,  recently  wrote : “If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”


On the alert  ABC Late Night Live there was  an enlightening discussion this week  about   the  pact   and  informed   commentators  in Washington , Australia  and  Auckland  explained  how  Australia  would  suffer if  this  deal is signed .
 
NOTE: Once again this blog urges readers to visit Nation of Change for continual informative  posts on such issues   as democracy,  the impact of big money in governance ,  fracking , GM,  the  meanness of  giant corporations towards  their workforce, secrecy, robber banks ,global warming  ... all relevant to  Australia ... frequently  well  ahead  of  the Australian  media   and  some  of   its    supposed   hotshot  reporters   and  "specialist"  writers.