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Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Activists demand TPP transparency

PROTESTERS delivered a petition containing over 1.8 million names to Parliament House yesterday morning, asking the Australian Government to make details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership available to the public.

IMAG1257The TPP is a free trade agreement in the final stages of negotiation between 12 countries around the Pacific Ocean, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

The small group included Victorian Labor MP Kelvin Thomson, Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, Associate Professor Dr Matthew Rimmer of the ANU College of Law, economist Matt Grudnoff from The Australia Institute and Public Health Association of Australia chief executive (and “CityNews” columnist) Michael Moore.

“Even the Australian Senate has been locked out of the negotiations and has been denied access to the wording of the agreement,” Mr Moore said last December. “It appears the agreement will simply be a ‘fait accompli’ despite its ability to over-ride Australia’s capacity to make laws to protect its own interests.”

Also present was Electronic Frontiers Australia executive officer Jon Lawrence, the campaign director of climate change activist group 350.org and Katherine Tu representing SumOfUs, a clicktivist website dedicated to opposing “the growing power of large corporations”.

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Ian Meikle, editor

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