On behalf of Hon Tim Groser, thank you for your email.  Your
correspondence has been noted and will be recorded.

 

All correspondence, including email,  is routed through our mail tracking
process.  Although e-mail increases the speed of delivery, the
“behind-the-scenes” efforts of the Minister’s staff in responding to
mail cannot always provide the kind of speedy response users of email may
anticipate.

 

While the Minister considers all correspondence to be important, if it is
obvious that you are writing only to express a personal view your opinion
will be noted but a response beyond this acknowledgement may not be sent.

 

Thank you again.

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On behalf of Hon Tim Groser, thank you for your email.  Your
correspondence has been noted and will be recorded.

 

All correspondence, including email,  is routed through our mail tracking
process.  Although e-mail increases the speed of delivery, the
“behind-the-scenes” efforts of the Minister’s staff in responding to
mail cannot always provide the kind of speedy response users of email may
anticipate.

 

While the Minister considers all correspondence to be important, if it is
obvious that you are writing only to express a personal view your opinion
will be noted but a response beyond this acknowledgement may not be sent.

 

Thank you again.

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Dear Shaun

Please find attached the response from Hon Tim Groser, Minister of Trade, to your OIA request.

Yours sincerely

Bibiana Marsh
Office of Hon Tim Groser
Minister of Trade | Minister for Climate Change Issues
Parliament Buildings | Private Bag 18041 | Wellington 6160 | New Zealand

-----Original Message-----
From: Shaun Cavanagh [mailto:[OIA #2327 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 9 December 2014 11:46 p.m.
To: T Groser (MIN)
Subject: Official Information Act request - Requesting openness and transparency on the TPP

Dear Tim Groser (NZ Minister of Trade),

In 2014, a prominent campaigning promise from your party was one of 'stable government'. I would like you to consider how much of a threat the Investor-State Dispute Settlement process in the TPP is to this campaign promise, and listen more to the thousands of voices who have legitimate concerns over the potential negative impact this agreement will have on the New Zealand way of life.

There are a few points this brief submission would like to make:

- in a globalised trading environment, it is not acceptable to simply claim that New Zealand's core interests are protected through the negotiation process. It is preferable that you take into account how the interests who stand to gain from NZ signing the TPP already have a detrimental influence in countries around the world where the regulations are not as strong as in NZ.

There is a philosophical viewpoint that contains globalisation as it's theme: "If all our misfortunes were lumped together with everyone forced to take an equal share, people would be glad to take back their own". There are interests lobbying for the TPP who lump a detrimental influence on local communities globally. Please do not endorse these practices by overlooking them and then claiming there will be benefits.

- One example: when in 2013 you and the Prime Minister attended a negotiating round for the TPP in Indonesia at a tobacco industry-sponsored event, did you stop to think about the detrimental effects of this industry on the local population? (240 million people). This is significantly less regulated than New Zealand, so what are the benefits for these people?

- It would be great to see you show greater support for our neighbours with their plain packaging stance on cigarettes (In one interview, you stated NZ was "100% behind Australia") by listening to those lawyers who claim Australia are justified under trade and intellectual property law to have this measure on their statute books.

- In the most recent US election campaign, President Obama commented on his opponent's tax plan by stating something like: "When a politician tells you a deal is so good he can't tell you what's in it, be wary. There's usually something else going on".
Perhaps you can see the connection between his words and the legitimate concerns people have re: the TPP (not just in NZ, but the other nations involved).

This submission requests that you show even greater respect for these concerns, and demonstrate this by heeding the recommendations for more analysis into the potential impact a signed TPP will have on the NZ way of life.

Yours in good faith,

Shaun Cavanagh.

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