#cptppa — Public Fediverse posts

@stephen @leighelse @phlogiston I'm also very unconvinced that people like our 'chief negotiator' , Vangelis Vitalis https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/about-us/our-people/vangelis-vitalis is actually on our team. Because he's the one who assured Ardern that the #CPTPPA was A-Ok. And he was dead *dead* wrong.

@stephen @leighelse it would be great - I suspect @phlogiston is right - it's probably the silent threat of ISDS action from US corporations under the #CPTPPA that kills anything like that before it even gets to the proposal stage.

We need to ditch these 'modern trade agreements' (that are very damagingly mislabelled 'free' trade agreements) and run folks like Stephen Jacobi out on a (mono)rail for being such an unconscionable shill.

I can't help but wonder how NZ Labour, with their tepid 'national investment fund', are planning to combat secret (from all NZers) ISDS suits from multinational corporations if they deem such policies might affect their profits in NZ. They'd have to pull NZ out of the #CPTPPA first. Which I think would be entirely appropriate. I might even vote for them if they were really going to do that. Otherwise, nah, they're too big-business-pandering, no longer pro labour.

Yes, https://pluralistic.net/2025/10/15/freedom-of-movement/#data-dieselgate Cory Doctorow (who coined the term 'enshittification') dropping some serious truth bombs about how the US Trump administration and US BigTech are rorting/scamming the global digital environment with international 'trade agreements'... and why their bad faith means we need to *jettison* the ones we're beholden to, especially the #CPTPPA. We must dishonour them, because they were never honourable to begin with.

It's important to note that both major parties ended up supporting the pro-corporate #CPTPPA, even after Labour actively campaigned against it. Both are neoliberal ideologues. We need a progressive, corpo-skeptic party running our gov't. Because corporations - especially multinationals - have zero interest in Aotearoa as anything other than a population & environment to convert into shareholder value, never mind who has to pick up the pieces.

Listening to Chippy on RNZ, it seems that our having signed up for the #CPTPPA agreement has tied our hands regarding blocking 'golden passports' for wealthy foreigners wanting to 'buy into' Aotearoa, like Thiel did. Wonder what benefits ordinary NZers get from our compromising our sovereignty, ceding it to multinational corporations? I'd vote the heck out of a party that promised to pull us out of 'restrictive "Free" Trade Agreements' like CPTPPA.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/557915/call-me-next-time-peters-disparages-luxon-s-tariff-talks So now NZ's gov't is calling for both China and the EU to enter the CPTPPA to circumvent the US... but it locks all the participating country into a system *designed by US corporations* to preserve their pre-eminence in the global market. This is ridiculous. The #CPTPPA is poison to nation states. Here's why: https://davelane.nz/tppa-select-committee-redux-2018-edition

Interesting to see David Parker's resigned. I haven't had any time for him since he (from what I could see) single-handedly shoved the #TPPA / #CPTPPA ratification down Labour's throat after they campaigned against it. What a stupid thing for NZ to sign up to.

@alcinnz @ensslen @civillibertynz I remember when I was presenting to the Select Committee on the #CPTPPA a few years back, and David Bennett (former Nat'l MP Hamilton) jumped out of his chair, with his hands formed to throttle me (and demanded a retraction) when I informed the Committee that, if they didn't vote against joining, I would consider them all traitors to NZ & their constituents. He'd been playing on his phone up until that point. I stand by my statement.

The Gov't would also cease to subsidise businesses, because doing so creates perverse incentives and massive market distortions. Let business subsidise itself. Also - discourage startups & foreign investment. They are both ways to launder NZ expertise, tax, and capital for the benefit of overseas shareholders. Encourage local investment. Drop out of restrictive "Free Trade Agreements" like #CPTPPA that prioritise foreign corporate interests. 4/n

Seems to me that the US is experiencing the equivalent of an auto-immune disorder like multiple sclerosis* on a national level. It's been destroyed from within. Devastating, and pitiable.

Here in Aotearoa, we need to disconnect ourselves from the US now. We need to back out of military alliances, especially #5Eyes, and trade agreements, especially the #CPTPPA Any idea that the US is a honourable (or even rational) actor need to be entirely revised.

* I've got it

Gotta say, really don't respect Tod McCLay (and his predecessor Tim Grosser) and their Labour counterpart, David Parker. They've sold out NZers for the benefit of a few corporate dairy farmers. The #CPTPPA is a travesty - and it's *not* a 'Free Trade Agreement'. It's a Trade Restrictions Agreement and it inherently puts us on the back food because foreign corporations have much better lawyers than we do. Here's more: https://davelane.nz/tppa-select-committee-redux-2018-edition

If they're going to make good, they'll need to pull NZ out of the #CPTPPA...

@kaffiene of course the #ISDS terms in the #CPTPPA are only part of it - as you point out gov't procurement was horribly biased in favour of #BitTech prior to that, too. That's because bureaucrats want to be seen to be in charge of the biggest budgets/procurements ($ amount) possible as it sets them up for advancement. I've no doubt people create RFPs with conditions effectively ruling out viable local options, because the 'big name' & big $ looks better on their CV.

@kaffiene it's true they weren't buying local, but now they can claim that their bias is justified due to the risk of being sued under the terms of the #CPTPPA - 'obligations under international agreements' is how it's usually termed in the media. Of course, only a few bureaucrats actually seem to understand what's going on.

@kaffiene unfortunately, most people don't know what the #CPTPPA really entails. Sadly, that includes most MPs who voted for it. They think it's an FTA because that's what the media called it, because that's what the US corporate lawyers who wrote its 6000 pages of *restrictions* called it. It's a farce. Here's a bit of an overview: https://davelane.nz/tppa-select-committee-redux-2018-edition

@kaffiene my beef is mostly about how stupid it was for NZ to sign up to the #CPTPPA, and then gov't's painful risk aversion which has, of course, created much bigger liabilities (e.g. like this: https://davelane.nz/mshostage and this https://davelane.nz/explainer-digitech-risks-school-boards among many others)