‘Zombie’ TPPA A Recipe for Inequality

The income equality project Closing the Gap today expressed concern at the National government’s effort to revive the TPPA deal without addressing ongoing questions around job losses, higher health costs and concessions to multinationals.

Closing the Gap National Secretary, Peter Malcolm, said it was surprising the government would go ahead in an election year in the wake of strong public opposition to the TPPA, all without telling New Zealanders just what impact any new ‘zombie’ deal would have on their lives.

“The old deal was unpopular precisely because people suspected it would benefit multinationals at the expense of New Zealand wage and salary earners, and the unemployed. That hasn’t changed, and hasn’t been addressed by the government,” he said.

Mr. Malcolm said expert economic analysis of the TPPA showed it would lead to job losses and increased income inequality.

“We need trade, but we also need proper protection — training and decent benefits for those who lose jobs until they can retrain and rejoin the ranks of the employed — and we need to make sure that our sovereignty is not constrained over issues such as health, education and corporate governance,” he said.

And the ISDS is all wrong. If a company wants to invest in another country, that company should take all the risks including the risk of being shut down if they are not behaving as a good, corporate citizen.

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