Secrecy sours New Zealand acceptance of TPP deal

While New Zealand business representatives -- except for the dairy industry -- enthusiastically welcomed the agreement of the 12-nation Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Tuesday, critics remained outraged at the secrecy that still surrounds the detail of the deal.

"The government has ignored, insulted and lied to its citizens, " said Auckland University Professor of Law Jane Kelsey, who is leading an ongoing legal case for the release of the TPP documents.

Trade Minister Tim Groser had misled New Zealanders with claims that he would walk away from a bad deal, Kelsey said in a statement, referring to the meagre gains on access for New Zealand 's pillar dairy industry.

"The government's 'trust us' promises were a sham and New Zealanders have been sold down the river," said Kelsey.

She urged New Zealanders to ask the question "Who gave the prime minister and trade minister the right to sacrifice our rights to affordable medicine, to regulate foreign investment, to decide our own copyright laws, to set up new SOEs (state-owned enterprises), and whatever else they have agreed to in this secret deal and present it to us as a fait accompli?"

The fight for greater transparency of the deal was "far from over" as there was still three months before the agreement would be signed, giving opposition politicians and the public time to voice their disapproval, she said.

The opposition New Zealand First party said it wanted to change the law so international treaties are discussed and approved by Parliament before signing, preventing any government from making " blank cheque commitments."

The party was urgently putting forward a bill to stop such " anti-democratic behavior," New Zealand First trade spokesperson Fletcher Tabuteau said in a statement.

"There is need for a higher level of transparency when small, privileged and often out-of-touch groups get to negotiate these deals on behalf of the wider public," said Tabuteau.

The opposition Green Party said the TPP would make ordinary New Zealanders "tenants in our own land," while private companies snapped up the limited gains of about 1 percent of gross domestic product.

"The TPPA is a bad deal because the costs will be worn by everyday New Zealanders, while the benefits will go to private companies," Green Party co-leader James Shaw said in a statement.

"Trade Minister Tim Groser can't avoid the fact that the TPPA doesn't actually break down trade barriers with markets like Canada, and it will be another 25 years before milk powder tariffs in the United States market are gone." Endi