To the Rt. Hon. John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
A message from a fellow kiwi.
The future of our nation is under threat from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
The government has spent four years in secret negotiations for a deal that the people and parliamentarians of New Zealand will not see until it is signed, and we effectively cannot change. That is an affront to democracy, accountability and the Treaty of Waitangi.
The TPPA will tie the hands of future governments to make decisions in the best interests of New Zealand, even when they are elected to adopt specific policies.That is a violation of our sovereignty and our right to self-determination.
It will give foreign investors special rights to sue our government in private offshore tribunals for millions of dollars in compensation for actions that are lawful in New Zealand. That is an affront to our own legal system and gives foreign corporations unacceptable power over our country.
We have the right to decide who owns our natural resources, our banks, our media or our power companiesand to set the rules by which they operate.
We have the right to reverse privatisations that have been pushed through against the will of the people or that have failed.
We have the right to require taxes and rates are spent in ways that support local businesses and jobs.
We have the right to decide the rules that govern the Internet.
We have the right to decide how we subsidise which medicines at what prices.
We have the right to decide our own food standards and labelling system, and to be GE Free.
We have the right to protect out pristine natural environment.
The TPPA threatens all those rights.
Four years of TPPA negotiations is enough!
This sell out of our future must stop now.
Sincerely [Signature]
