A university in the United States has found that the much-heralded Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal will cost the American economy 448,000 jobs and significantly decrease their Gross Domestic Product.
One of 12 nations in the deal, Australia signed the agreement in New Zealand last week.
The Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University near Boston said President Obama’s promises of sweeping economic benefits are wrong and the treaty would actually harm America.
The analysis said U.S. jobs would be “hardest hit” of all the nations in the agreement.
Meanwhile the TPP along with the National Interest Analysis was tabled in the Australian House of Representatives today prompting the Member for Kennedy and leader of Katters Australian Party, Bob Katter to form a cross bench alliance, citing the TPP as the “greatest threat to Australia’s sovereignty in decades.”
Mr Katter, Senator Glenn Lazarus and Greens’ Trade Spokesman Senator Peter Whish-Wilson fronted a joint press conference at Parliament House to oppose the ratification of the TPP, which is expected within weeks.
Whilst full details of the TPP Agreement were laid before Parliament, all three attacked the Government’s own analysis of the Agreement – an analysis which is unlikely to highlight the real losses to Australian manufacturers and producers.
“There has been a hole a mile wide torn in the sovereignty of Australia,” Mr Katter said.
“If there is a product which some foreign corporation is producing or distributing in Australia and they have invested money, then we can’t stop that product from coming in – so what is left of our sovereignty is now vanishing away.
“Andrew Robb, one of the most appropriately named Ministers that I have encountered in my time in Parliament, has greatly erred here, so maybe we should call him Rob-err.
“He has an extraordinary eagerness to please foreign corporations and to get foreign investment – but what he calls foreign investment I call the stealing of our country!
“I defy him in the last 10 years to tell me where any significant jobs have been created by foreign investment, that hadn’t already started 15-20 years ago.
“And in the last 10 years, since this fanatical free trade business has been going on, I defy them to point out to me where there has been one benefit for the Australian economy.”
Mr Katter pointed to the absurdity in the Government’s own figures published today – which cited $109 billion in sales to TPP countries, versus $1,109 of investment in Australia by TPP countries – meaning a staggering ten times more imports than exports, all of which compete with if not eradicate Australian producers and manufacturers.
“Mr Robb says that this agreement will open up avenues for Australian manufactured goods – for iron and steel, ships and auto parts to name a few.
“But manufacturing – it’s already all gone. There is no capital investment by Government, no motor vehicles produced, no white goods produced – no manufacturing left in the country.
“We allow slave labour produced goods into the country without any tariffs or restrictions on them whatsoever.
“Instead of trading aggressively and collectively, we have the weakest trading position of any country on earth.
“TheGovernment keeps pressing ahead talking about foreign investment as if it’s a good thing – when we all know it’s just selling your country off because your country’s broke, the Government’s broke, and the only way to get out of trouble is to sell off the assets,” Mr Katter said.
that would be benito musolini the author of the doctrines of fascism mike 🙂
and your totaly right this civilisation has passed its zenith and is now deteriorating into the inevitable corruption that marks the end of a empire
money speaks, if someone gets in that opposes it they will just pay them enough not to oppose it, in 2013 168 people owned 62% of the worlds official wealth they areeach richer then our entire country and if any given one wants something to happen they can pay till it dose and they all want the tpp because it formalises the fact that they run the world now.
the TPP is just a formal surrender, the war was the GFC and only iceland won that war everyone else capitulated, the tpp is just making it official.
its nice to see some people opposing it but powers to concerntrated theirs no way to stop it in current system even if 20000000 million australians took to the streets they would just collapse economy again and demand we sign.
were reaching the end point of this cycle of civilisation, the group delusion that is empire and its ending the same way as every time before rising inequality(60 people own more then 1/2 the worlds pop) food shortages disease and forced migration of peoples(syria yemen ethiopia ect all in 5+ year droughts at the moment) by war or drought. mean while those with the ability to easly fix it are so insane with gold lust that all they do is hoard more.
its happened so many times before. romans greeks egyptians phonecians persians ottomans all through history you can trace the same patern equality decreases acess to resources to deal with societys issues decrease at same time some crisiss pops up society dosnt have the resources to deal with it the elite see only options for more profits dont react and society breaks down elite have to move to a new stable country and the rest get to crawl back up through agrarian toil and it starts all over again lol
tpp is a desperate attempt to prop up a finically+moral banktrupt system,fuck capitalism up now!!$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thank God Mick we have some thinking Aussies out there. Well explained and of course you are correct. Anytime you want to send us a story please do.
Thankyou. Editor
We need to reclaim our banks from the fraudulent commonwealth “rothchilds” and seize our assets/profits stolen by them
Most Western are at a turning point in history. Corporations have amassed wealth beyond imagining. And they want more.
We are seeing an event unfold in the TPP like nothing in the history of democracy, corporations have usurped the Governments of most Western countries through razor edge application of the law…lobbyist skate the thinness of ice as they buy the favour of our so call “representatives”.
For brevity sake take just one aspect of the TPP, the ISDS Chapter…imagine you live in a democratic country with a legal system that ranks in the top 5 in the world year after year for integrity and transparency.
Along comes the TPP with it’s 600 corporate lobbyist/advisers and BOOM your Government agrees to allow the Corporation the license to make their know legal system OUTSIDE OF YOUR COUNTRY’S LEGAL SYSTEM!
One that they can sue you (your country) but YOU CAN’T SUE THEM!
One that has corporate lawyers work as “adjudicators” in a panel of 3, only to go back to their day job as corporate lawyers once the “dispute” is adjudicated.
Unlike what they have in a country “with a legal system that ranks in the top 5 in the world year after year” the TPP court has no use of “precedence” or even cap on pecuniary penalties.
And that’s not the worst of the ISDS overreaches, there is no right of appeal on any decisions handed down!
We risk losing our democracy to a corporate coup d’etat to the applause of our subverted Government Representatives.
Who said Fascism is a merger of State and Corporations?
The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.
Che Guevara
May i ask , why are we paying these politicians $88 million a year, the ALP, to make such damaging decisions for our country , and our Australian people. Are they total nuts? cant they see what they are allowing to happen to our once beautiful country?.
OMG these idiots should be held accountable , they are the biggest criminals to our country, and our Australian people.