Ōtaki group helps form Economics Party to fight trade agreement

By Alan Tristram

An Ōtaki group led by Deidre Kent has helped to form a new party to fight the Government’s Transpacific trade pact which it says threatens many democratic rights.

The first meeting was held at Otaki but involved people from all over New Zealand, says Deidre.

“We had them on skype audio. There were people from Wellington, Palmerston North, Levin and Waikanae there — and online we had others from Kerikeri to Christchurch,” she says.

She says the New Economics Party which has been co-founded by her has decided  its first aim must be to fight the Transpacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

Ms Kent, who was the driving force behind the formation of Otaki Transition Towns and Otaki Timebank, says:

“We have come to the conclusion that a lot of the policy we have on our books will be illegal if the TPPA is signed.

“Under the TPPA, a Government doing what we recommend would be sued for millions of dollars by multinational companies.

“It looks as though foreign banks, insurance companies and money traders are to be given more powers to challenge laws designed to prevent another financial crisis. There will probably be no possibility of capital controls and no chance to bring in the domestic-only land-backed New Zealand currency we are working on”, she says.

The group is organising its opposition and hopes to attend a Fabian Society-run meeting in Wellington next weekend to discuss the current economic crisis.

“When we booked online, the reply was that it is already booked out, which is a good sign that New Zealanders like us are waking up to what Trade Minister Tim Groser is up to,” she says. ”

“He should not be playing ignorant and leaving it entirely to his officials. We are hoping the Fabian Society will find a bigger venue now.”

Kent says a large reason for her party’s existence was to get policies in place to protect New Zealand in the event of global financial collapse.

“The next round of TPPA negotiations takes place in Auckland in early December,” she says.

“By Christmas, this Government might well have signed away a huge chunk of our democracy and rolled over to let corporations and investment banks rule the world, and all in secret. We want the negotiations made public.”