Years of protests, marches and rallies, submissions, petitions and presenting to Select Committees proves that the National government ignores and belittles the concerns of the majority of New Zealanders about the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)

RIP Travellerev (Ev Gilbert)

In my travels and activism as the TPP Roadie I have come to meet and become friends with many people in the regions of Aotearoa New Zealand. One who I met was named Ev Gilbert from near Raglan. Ev also known as Travellerev was a prolific blogger on her site, Aotearoa Wider Perspective: http://aotearoaawiderperspective.com/ Sadly she passed on 12 July 2016, obituary here:  http://www.openureyes.org.nz/blog/?q=node/7543. Ev touched many with the benefit of her researches and discoveries, including into the TPPA.

The Campaign

It is several months since my report in Watchdog 142 (August 2016, http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/42/10.html). The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade (FADT) Select Committee TPPA treaty examination process had concluded and the TPPA Amendment Bill is being rushed through Parliament despite most of the TPPA nations taking their time to consider the TPPA implications and the outcome of the November US Congressional and Presidential elections.

The TPPA Bill gained the support of a majority of the Parliament on the 12th May with Labour's Phil Goff* voting with the Government to provide it with a 62-59 majority. Labour's David Shearer indicated to his Leader that he wanted special dispensation to vote with the Government on the Bill, however he was refused. This fact in itself indicates the dilemma the progressive forces confront in working with so-called progressive Parliamentary parties.1984 overhangs 2016 politics. Those opposing the TPPA have the weight of informed public opinion from civil, academic and professional society and most small business owners. *Goff has since resigned from Parliament and been elected Mayor of Auckland. Ed.

Democracy Or Dictatorship?

Representative government is only as democratic as the rules, structures and institutional bias allow. The powers that move and persuade Government to act continue to work after the protestors and activists are tucked up in bed. The powers are entrenched institutionally in the State apparatus, controlling the media, and most political parties who rely upon corporate backing for their electoral and campaign funding. Building effective democracy requires effort and attractive ideas.

Systemic Bias Prevents Radical Solutions Being Considered

The potential policy matters offered in the public space usually are framed within a narrow perspective. For instance, it makes a lot of institutional and bureaucratic efficiency sense to implement a Universal Basic Income (UBI) funded through a carbon tax, given poverty in NZ and given the need to reduce CO2 emissions to combat climate change. There is now an international treaty obligation under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) signed 4 November in New York. Government could recapture the UBI paid above a certain threshold through an adjustment upwards of marginal taxation rates.

We could eliminate a large layer of bureaucracy (Work and Income NZ) and free up creative and experimental people to innovate in the areas of their interests as opposed to where they are forced to engage in order to “make a living.” A human is already living, is born alive. If the system one is born into requires money to survive then my human right is to have access to money sufficient to live. With the TPPA entrenching and extending business as usual, the potential for our Government (and most other national governments) electing to implement radical policy is diminished, irrespective of the colour. The TPPA by its nature provides a useful bridge into a variety of policy spaces. As well as campaign in respect to the TPPA, I engage in activities that dovetail. If we are rejecting the New Zealand government and globalists’ economic and social policies, what are we advancing as alternative policy?

Alternative Economic And Social Organisation

The Living Economies folk http://www.le.org.nz/ convened an organising and brainstorming conference in July whose object was to develop and organise an alternative economy expo early in 2017. Held at Aro Valley Community Centre from 15 to 17 July it was called “Repaint The Canvas Of The Future”. Along with Gen de Spa from It's Our Future (Kiwis concerned about the TPPA) Christchurch Group (IoF ChCh) I attended with much interest in the new canvas and colour of the paint available for the new design.

Some 40 people worked through a busy agenda to develop a conference/expo that showcases and demonstrates methods in which communities might cooperate for social and economic wellbeing rather than the current ruthless competitive capitalist system that wages war on people and planet. I've not been able to engage fully in the expo development as the ongoing campaign against the TPP uses most of my waking hours.

TPPA Campaign July/August 

Building A Foundation For TPPA Free Zones

Theo Fink from Waiwhetu Peace Group (Lower Hutt) invited TPP Free to make a presentation on the implications of TPP to their group. The presentation was the evening of 12 July, coincidentally the night that Ev Gilbert passed to a peaceful plane. Peace groups, individual actors and the anti-TPPA movement have made the connection between war, trade and the business as usual ruthless capitalistic system we are forced to exist within presently – how do we change this?

The speaker's notes I used for this presentation are available at this dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmb3w6nnwh6ivmk/TPP%2BRCEP%2BTiSA%3DTriple-Trouble!_gregs-notes.pdf?dl=0. TPP Free Wellington organised public meetings around the Wellington and Lower Hutt region. The object of these meetings was to promote support for a campaign to get the Hutt and Wellington City Councils to adopt a similar position to the Upper Hutt City and Waiheke Board decisions to declare their territory a TPPA Free Zone.

We spent a small fortune advertising them in the papers plus postering in the locale of each of the venues. The Wellington and Hutt meetings were all during the month of August. Attendance was small at most meetings. We were becoming aware that the public were convinced there was little that could be done to stop the TPPA given the 4 February signing. We felt it imperative to counter that public perception. We presented a Powerpoint to the meetings which laid out the TPPA, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP implications in 15 slides.

Slide show available at this dropbox location:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/prfu39zdb8xled1/Join%20the%20Dots%20%E2%80%93%20TPP%20Free%20Aotearoa%20NZ%20August%202016.odp?dl=0 Notes for the slides:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/ahkwdkvazcnxmvm/Join%20the%20Dots%E2%80%93TPP%20Free%20Public%20meetings%20Wellington%20the%20Hutt-Aug.pdf?dl=0

We wrote to the Wellington City Council (WCC) earlier in August and gained agreement to present to the public forum of the Council's 25 August Governance, Finance & Planning Committee meeting. Chair of that committee was Councillor Justin Lester. We were given ten minutes for the presentation, which I spoke to. Our TPPA presentation to Wellington City Council was a little rushed as we had a lot of information to impart and a short space to accomplish that. A number of the TPP Free Wellington crew attended which adds to the feel of support for the cause. The Powerpoint we offered the WCC was an expanded form of the presentation for the recent public meetings: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1sdr6ou658qlpmd/WCC_Join%20the%20Dots_TPP_PP_25-August-2016.odp?dl=0

There was no opportunity for questions from Councillors as the presentation consumed the full ten minutes. Nevertheless we are informed the presentation had an effect with Councillors being very attentive throughout the engagement. In a follow up exchange with Committee Chair Cr. Justin Lester he agreed to provide space at a future Council forum to consider our TPP Free Zone application. We plan on following that up soon now that October’s local body elections have been and gone. It is of note that Cr. Lester polled very well, winning the Mayoralty of our capital city.

Local Government Amendment Bill 2

My participation in the TPPA campaign and the promotion of the TPPA policy solution to New Zealand's local government sector deepened my interest in local government as a force for representing community interests. As with any institutions whose purpose is to foster and support good public policy the current Government is doing whatever it can to undermine and destroy their effectiveness. The Local Government Amendment (LGA) Bill 2 is one of a series of alterations intended to gut our councils’ effectiveness in delivering public service. The Government's default setting privatises and deregulates everything.

I felt motivated to make representation to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee in relation to the Bill. I had an appointment for 1 September, the last day of public hearings for that Bill. My presentation followed Stephen Woodhead, Chairman of the Otago Regional Council, and set the scene for Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) President and Hastings Mayor, Lawrence Yule, who followed me. The following is an upload of my oral presentation: https://soundcloud.com/user-208366937/greg-rzesniowiecki-lga-2002-amendment-bill-2-2016

I provided the Committee with a paper and a supplementary on the day:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/2m0g3663aoat40p/Evidence-LGA-Amendment-Bill_supp1_greg.pdf?dl=0 I set out the supplementary paper in full as I think it important that people appreciate the values to which New Zealanders aspire. In addition to the LGA Amendment Bill #2, I placed evidence before the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade (FADT) Select Committee in relation to two Bills relating to security and the so-called terrorist paranoia.

Maritime Crimes Amendment Bill

Recommendation 1

That the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee formally consider the question of State involvement in terrorism, with a view to identifying State terrorist actions by our UK-USA alliance partners.

Recommendation 2

I call for a full independent inquiry and assessment of the evidence in relation to the 9/11 event with a view to establish;

a) the physical requirements that must be met in order for the findings of the 9/11 commission report to be upheld.

b) as far as is possible to inquire into who and what interests were served by the 9/11 crime.

c) make recommendations directed towards bringing the responsible actors to justice.

d) make recommendations about securing sovereign integrity with a view to protecting our fundamental interest of maintaining that New Zealand retains control of its political, social and economic structures and looks outward to maintaining security in the South Pacific region.

Recommendation 3

That the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Select Committee undertake a review of New Zealand's alliances and relationships with UK-USA alliance partners, in light of the evidence (terrorist attacks on domestic populations and aggressive war against another state) that they breach reasonable behavioural norms and international law irrespective of the likelihood of bringing an effective prosecution within current international law jurisdictions.

Recommendation 4

That the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee formally recommend against the adoption of this Maritime Crimes Amendment Bill to the New Zealand Parliament in their report. Finally in relation to this Bill, I formally oppose the Maritime Crimes Amendment Bill, particularly Section 4.

Intelligence And Security Bill 2016

I gave evidence on the morning of the hikoi welcome to Wellington on 3 November. Link to Soundcloud upload of my oral evidence with a link to the evidence paper in the explanation: https://soundcloud.com/user-208366937/greg-rzesniowiecki-oral-evidence-intelligence-and-security-bill-2016 I make the following recommendations and observations in the conclusion of my evidence paper:

1.  I recommend that following the receipt of all public contributions to this process, consideration of the Intelligence and Security Bill 2016 is deferred a until a review is undertaken as per point 2.

Until we stop the drive to wage war through criminal prosecution of the perpetrators, they will continue to act aggressively with impunity, which means the security, public, state and global interests are compromised. I urge you to stop the madness if you support the values of the New Zealand people identified through your Government's legislated constitutional flag change referendum process, and cognizant of the nature of the New Zealand constitution is a democracy and that the Government derives its powers from the people. Thus the Government must only serve the people's interest which is not through the agency of aggressive war. How is an informed member of the public to interpret and act where they find criminal activity by their State and their State's allies? How does one render justice when the State refuses to act in a just manner?

Social Movements, Resistance And Social Change III Conference

I attended this conference 1-3 September hosted at Victoria University of Wellington by the folks at Counter Futures magazine: http://counterfutures.nz/smconference.html. conference programme here: http://counterfutures.nz/SMRSCIII_Programme.pdf  It is of note that Sue Bradford, Dylan Taylor and guest speaker Nick Srnicek  launched the Leftwing think tank, Economic and Social Research Aotearoa (ESRA) https://esra.nz/  at the conference on the Friday night: https://esra.nz/esra-has-launched/

The contributions from these speakers are available; Nick Srnicek:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wB2aYh0xOw; Kassie Hartendorp:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jDbBJb8WrM I presented on the last day in a session entitled “Activism Today”. I've uploaded the Powerpoint of my presentation “Democratic Participation: Just Do It” here:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/rk1c53q899z2qy2/Democratic-Participation_Just-Do-It_TPP_PP_SMR%26SC_3-Sept-2016.odp?dl=0

This Powerpoint, whilst looking at the TPPA as the issue, expands on the actions that were undertaken by the movement to achieve the results we have with the TPPA Policy Solution and its broad acceptance by New Zealand's local government sector as well as the impact the grass roots movement has had on the Government's overall negotiating position in relation to the TPPA.

NZ Government Trade Policy Strategy Refresh – What Change?

The Trade Minister announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) was undertaking a review of its trade policy strategy with public meetings programmed in early September (busy month) in the main centres of Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. I attended the Wellington meeting on 5 September, Auckland was the 6th and Christchurch the 20th of September. The link is to the MFAT Webpage promoting the meetings: https://mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/nz-trade-policy/trade-policy-strategy-refresh-public-meetings

Upon investigating the terms of reference, I was dismayed at how limited they were, as all that was proposed was business as usual with the addition of growing trade from existing treaties that might not have had full uptake and utilisation by NZ trade interests. Accordingly I wrote to the Minister on 30 August requesting the Government expand the terms of reference for the review, copy of letter here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/26cu224vpn9f0js/Terms%20of%20Reference%20Todd%20McClay-greg.pdf?dl=0

Additionally Barry Coates on behalf of IoF wrote to the Minister on behalf of the movement, here for download:https://www.dropbox.com/s/awsjpgscxhn6a2x/A%20real%20review%20of%20NZ%20Trade%20Policy%20signed.docx?dl=0 To make the point we were unhappy with the Clayton’s review, I initiated a petition on Action Station's Community Petition platform, currently active till further notice. Please consider searching for it online and signing:

https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/expand-the-terms-of-reference-for-trade-policy-strategy-review. The observations and conclusions I raised in my 30 August letter are as follows:

Conclusions And Recommendations

Please pause, set a new timeline, and allow for an initial discussion with a representative group from civil society about the terms of reference for a balanced discussion about Trade Policy Strategy.Civil society finds its interests attacked by trade and investment treaty negotiations, rules and practice. That is perhaps why most civil society participants raised the concerns they did in the FADT treaty examination process.It is critical to any study that the terms of reference are appropriate to the task. By their design (everything is purposeful – no accidents) you clearly reveal an agenda which appears to be business as usual. This indicates the trade policy strategy refresh is unambitious from a civil society perspective. It certainly is from the perspective of effective climate change mitigation.

We do not need a rushed process at this point. The wheels are falling off the TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) as we speak, that is if the utterances of the media reports from Europe are accurate reflections of the German and French governments’ attitudes. For the Trade Policy Refresh to be a valuable contribution toward consensus with New Zealand civil society, we require a well thought out and open process that includes all the interests and matters that are impacted by the trade and investment treaty policy settings.

If full public consultation in the matters that affect the public is out of bounds in trade and investment treaty negotiations then, it might be necessary to: Remove from trade and investment treaty negotiations matters that impact NZ's domestic arrangements. That is the only fair arrangement.

National Campaign – Strategy and Tactics – Public Mobilisation

Nationwide Action 10 September

In the period immediately after the 4 February signing of the TPPA and the May FADT Select Committee report and First Reading of the TPPA Amendment Bill, the nationwide It's Our Future movement assessed the next round of actions to keep the TPP fight alive in the public eye. We settled for action on 10 September. It may have lacked a hook as there wasn't a particular event on the TPPA ratification timeline that we were targeting, however, we felt we needed to indicate that the TPPA fight was far from over.

The mood in the activist circles was hopeful that we could again mobilise large numbers to participate. In an endeavour to be innovative and provide interest. Both Auckland and Wellington hosted rallies in association with concerts. Other centres concentrated on proven tactics, with marches and rallies. Events were hosted in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Whangarei, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Hokianga and maybe a couple of other places.

Auckland staged a seven hour concert and rally that attracted and held about 500 people through the duration with people coming and going. Wellington's concert was rain affected, so despite the attraction of having top acts the level of attendance was down. IoF Christchurch still managed to get close to 1,000 people to march down Riccarton Road and through Riccarton Mall: http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/tpp-protest-stops-christchurch-traffic-2016091018; http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84127038/hundreds-of-antitppa-protesters-march-down-christchurchs-riccarton-rd Christchurch is prominent in the campaign against the TPPA and the campaign there was working on tactics to raise the issue strongly in the public mind. Christchurch mother Rachel Thomas, with the support of the Its Our Future Christchurch team, decided to hikoi with her three children to Wellington and Parliament.

TPP Amendment Bill And Convergence On Wellington

TPP Free Wellington had planned for action at about the time of the early November reporting deadline from the FADT Select Committee in respect to the TPPA Amendment Bill. We aimed to mobilise in time to be on the streets in advance of the Bill's Second and Third (Final) Reading debates. Working with IoF and the Christchurch team, we had under consideration either the weekend of 29 October or Saturday 5 November. With the urging of IoF Christchurch we settled on 5 November, which is both Guy Fawkes commemoration and Parihaka Day. The Christchurch team needed lots of advance notice of the date as they were planning the Rachel Thomas Hikoi, which gained the name “Our Children's Future Hikoi.”

Changing Of The Guard – Barry Coates Now MP

We must pay tribute to Barry Coates who provided a leadership and spokesperson role for It's Our Future for a year until the announcement that Kevin Hague was retiring from Parliament to take up a role at Forest and Bird. Barry was a Green Party candidate at the 2014 general election, missing out by one spot on the Green list. With Kevin's move Barry was next up to fill the spot, with the change occurring in early October. First Union, which have been tremendous supporters of Its Our Future, offered their industrial organiser, Stephen Parry, for the role of IoF Coordinator. TPP Free welcomes Stephen to the post and notes that he played a critical role at the commencement of the TPPA campaign so knows his way around the issues.

Barry had the interesting experience of presenting to the FADT Select Committee on behalf of IoF and then writing the minority Green Party report to the FADT report on the TPPA Amendment Bill.  The report was tabled in Parliament on 27 October:  https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/00DBHOH_BILL68998_1/tab/reports. Next up in the process is the Second Reading, guess when the Government programmed it?

Our Children's Future Hikoi

The Hikoi set off from Christchurch’s Cathedral Square after a rally on 15 October. This is the blog that the Hikoi maintained for their journey:  https://ourchildrensfuturehikoi.wordpress.com/about/  Their first stop that day was Kaiapoi. The hikoi made progress at approximately 20 kilometres per day for 20 days to close the 340 kilometres between Christchurch and the capital. The hikoi blog is a remarkable record of the perseverance and cooperation from people who have lived through adversity. Christchurch people are special for the crises they have endured forged through the 2010/11 earthquakes.

In Wellington we were in contact with the hikoi on an almost daily basis as we readied ourselves for their arrival and prepared the welcoming events. We planned two events, 3 November Welcome Our Children's Future Hikoi – Wellington:  Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/222773991470304/ and 5 November, It's Our Children's Future - No Mandate for TPP - Rally & March, Facebook event page:  https://www.facebook.com/events/351696275172662/

The Wellington team had been busy arranging the two events, coordinating speakers, postering and arranging billets for the hikoi at Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington's Island Bay:  http://www.taputeranga.maori.nz/ The marae has a unique history and its kaumatua, Bruce Stewart, was gracious in providing a large space and full use of the facilities there. For more of the marae's current story a survey of this article will inform:  http://www.waateanews.com/waateanews/x_story_id/MTUwMzM=/Tapu-Te-Ranga-fights-for-survival and give-a-little:  https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/supporttapu. The hikoi folk stayed at the Marae on the evening of 3 November.

The hikoi people were booked on the Bluebridge Ferry (the terminal is across Waterloo Quay from the Wellington Railway Station). The ferry was due at 11:30 a.m. The formal welcome was organised by Green Party MP Barry Coates at Parliament, however the grounds were booked for another event from 12:30pm, so we needed to be expeditious with the conduct of our event. The arrival of the ferry and the disembarkation of the hikoi folk was a great moment. There were lots of sharing of greetings and connecting. The Facebook page links shared in this article are all public so people can survey the photos and videos shared onto the pages to catch a sense of the moment. In all about 100 people gathered to welcome the hikoi, most remaining across Waterloo Quay on the Railway Green with signs deployed.

The intrepid and persevering GE Free campaigner, Claire Bleakley, undertook her own hikoi marching from Petone Railway Station to the ferry terminal to meet the hikoi. Claire shares that she received hundreds of supportive toots. Once we had stowed the gear in a van the hikoi was set. They crossed to the welcome committee and then marched to the Parliament to meet the MPs assembled to honour the hikoi participants. Fred MacDonald provided the mihi whakatau (Maori welcome), then Barry Coates offered his warm acknowledgement of the effort by Rachel, her children Pita, Tema, Jai and the dozen supporters who walked or assisted by driving support vehicles or joined the hikoi along the route.

There were nine MPs assembled to greet them: Barry Coates, Jan Logie, Catherine Delahunty and Marama Davidson from the Green Party; David Clark, Ruth Dyson, and Poto Williams from Labour; Fletcher Tabuteau from NZ First; and Marama Fox from the Māori Party. Barry Coates, David Clark, Fletcher Tabuteau and Marama Fox spoke, welcoming Rachel and the hikoi. Then Rachel supported by her children followed by Gen de Spa explained the hikoi objects and some of their experiences and sense of the TPPA and its implications. I spoke briefly to outline the event on Saturday, namely our rally and march. We exited the steps area and fell into a relaxed catch up with our friends, many of whom we knew already, and some new to us. Making friends within the movement is a great part of activism.

TPPA Amendment Bill Second Reading

Following the tabling of the TPP Amendment Bill report by the FADT Select Committee, the Government had programmed the TPPA Second Reading debate for Thursday afternoon after the Parliamentary Question Time. It was most likely purely a coincidence but nevertheless many attending the hikoi welcome including the hikoi folk themselves were keen to attend the Parliament and sit in the Public Gallery to witness the politicians vote away our democracy and sovereignty.

It is apparently the practice at Parliament, determined by the Speaker, that any involved in, “protest activity” are inadmissible to the Parliament as they are deemed “not of the public” for a 24 hour period. That rule was bent to allow seven individuals entry to Parliament for the afternoon. This aspect of denial of entry engendered a bit of press. Regardless, the TPPA Amendment Bill passed its Second Reading that afternoon:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201822484/government-turns-'children's-future'-hikoi-away

Following the event at Parliament we transported our hikoi guests to Tapu Te Ranga Marae for a pleasant evening of catching up and sharing stories. Many of the core TPP Free Wellington group had not met the Christchurch folk, I was privileged to have met Gen de Spa, Rachel Thomas, Shane Herdman, Ivan Gadsby and Leanne Watkins previously on my TPP Roadie travels, now the connections were broadened with TPP Free Welly folk also meeting Josie, Karen, Lisa, Pauline, Simon, Stephen, Charles and more from Christchurch, and Graeme O'Brien from Nelson (by the way, it was Graeme that originally got me engaged in this caper).

Some of the TPP Free Welly folk present were Antony Maddock, Tia Sullivan, Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati, John Hutcheson, Warwick Taylor, Lou Hutchinson, Andrew Delaney, and Martin Wilson, our wizard sound engineer. We supplied some of the hikoi folk with a van the next day which enabled them to tiki tour the Wellington region. Rachel and family had friends to stay with. Friday was a lay day for them, however for the TPP Free Wellington crew we had another event to organise. What had we forgotten in the crush of the meeting the hikoi?

It's Our Children's Future - No Mandate For TPP - Rally & March 5 November

This rally was intended as the culmination of the TPP Free Wellington campaign prior to the final reading of the TPPA Amendment Bill. In meeting the timing objective our planning was excellent. The Governor General's Assent follows Parliament's Final Reading debate. We have a petition to Her Excellency seeking that she rejects the Bill if the Government has not committed the question of the TPPA to a binding referendum of the people. Recall that the petition had an initial hand over to Dame Patsy Reddy’s predecessor, Sir Jerry Mateparae. In addition to the 4,300 signatures collected and handed over in January 2016, we had subsequently collected a further 4,800 on paper, plus more than 2,000 on the online version of the same petition. These we intended to provide to the Governor General or her nominee as part of our rally on 5 November.

Dame Patsy's Official Secretary, Gregory Baughen, had earlier advised, following our request to hand the remaining petitions over that Saturday, that they would not make themselves available outside of ordinary business hours. Their refusal to participate left us with a dilemma solved by the creative genius of Antony Maddock, who crafted a two dimensional cut out of Her Excellency and the Honourable John Key, Prime Minister. These were employed at the third location of our three venue rally that day.

Guy Fawkes And Parihaka – Shared Commemoration – Different Values

Saturday 5th November is appropriate for two commemorations, both which have lessons for the present. Guy Fawkes Day - he and collaborators attempted to blow up the British Parliament in opposition to oppressive legislation. We disavow violent action; however we note that where reason fails then more drastic measures may be adopted by those denied a share in the State's abundance - Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators are a reminder of the consequences where people are placed in desperation without other recourse. Parihaka Day is a commemoration for the peaceful stand of the Parihaka community (Taranaki). On November 5 1881 Parihaka resisted volunteers and constabulary of the colonial Government, whose intention was to steal their lands. The Parihaka community were dispersed, however their non-violent direct action inspired both Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and ourselves today.

Our plan was to gather at 12 noon at Parliament for a brief rally. From there we would march to Civic Square for a rally. Then, march to the Governor General Gates for final handover of TPPA petition and rally:  https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/demand-a-binding-referendum-on-tpp-let-the-people-decide The no show from the Governor General meant that the final part of our ritualised event could not be concluded, the petition handover saved for another occasion, close to the imminent Third Reading of the TPPA Amendment Bill. Several hundred people assembled for the rally. The marches between the rallies were fun and noisy events with lots of chanting. The police were brilliant in supporting the people and their right to protect the democracy.

The Rally: Parliament

At Parliament Fred MacDonald again provided the mihi whakatau (Maori welcome) for those joining the rally and march. Sandra Grey was a brilliant MC, providing context and background for the crowd and introducing speakers at each of the three rally locations. Barry Coates followed explaining that the Opposition parties had voted against the TPPA Bill Second Reading and again paying tribute to the inspiration of the hikoi participants.

Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati held a minute of silence for the memory of the recently departed Helen Kelly, friend of all and battler for the underdog. I attended Helen Kelly's memorial service 28 October at the Michael Fowler Centre with at least 2,000 people in attendance. It happened to fall on the 181st anniversary of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, New Zealand’s Declaration of Independence. Helen was dearly loved and respected by all New Zealanders for her work including her recent work to politicise and make legal the use of medicinal cannabis for chronic pain sufferers.

I spoke about the rally and the three elements linked by marches; at Parliament where we expect our representatives to make laws in the public interest; at the Wellington Civic Square where we, in our disappointment with our Parliamentary representatives, promoted the TPPA Policy Solution and the TPP Free Zones to local government; and, finally, to the House of the Governor General who is charged with protecting the institution of the Constitution, which according to Lord Cooke and Sir Ted Thomas is supposed to be based on democratic principles.

The Rally: Civic Square

At Civic Square, Antony Maddock outlined the work TPP Free Wellington had undertaken, organising many public meetings and rallies in order to inform our Councils and gain access to Council forums to promote the TPPA Policy Solution and the Upper Hutt City Council decision to declare their territory a TPPA Free Zone. Rachel Thomas, flanked by all the hikoi participants, spoke about it and the values that drove her and her friends to take a month out of their lives to raise public awareness about the toxic TPPA. Gen de Spa spoke of the social, environmental, economic and cultural values that would underpin a cooperative economic system.

The Rally: Government House Gates

Sandra introduced Amanda Vickers who is spokesperson and key sponsor of the petition to the Governor General. Amanda expanded the reasons for the petition citing the thoughts of New Zealand's greatest judges Lord Robin Cooke and Sir Ted Thomas. Following this I explained that, in the absence of the real Governor General, we had a stand in to fill in for Her Excellency. A bit of theatre followed involving the two dimensional Dame Patsy Reddy, and Batman who had just flown in from Goffam City (no it wasn't Phil Goff).

That concluded our TPP Free Wellington action. Many thanks to everyone who participated: both then and throughout the past several years. Through our combined efforts we make it extremely difficult for the TPPA to proceed to full ratification despite the bloody minded determination of our New Zealand government. In all of our actions we are honouring the Parihaka tradition through peaceful mobilisation - No Mandate - Do Not Ratify the TPPA!

Wellington Fireworks (Guy Fawkes Celebration)

We all went to the fireworks later that night at the Wellington waterfront. There was a special fireworks event later that evening at the Beehive, go and have a look:  https://www.facebook.com/josie.butler.988/videos/10157712261055385/ This chapter of the TPP Roadie story closes midnight Parihaka Day in Wellington.

Appeal For Sustainers

Greg's only income is from public donations. To sustain me continue this work contribute to Kiwibank account “Public Advocacy Donations Account”

389017-0439360-00 Reference "TPP roadie"

Many thanks for your support. Aroha and peace

Greg’s report finishes a few days before the US Presidential election which brought Donald Trump to power. He declared that, on his first day in office, he would give notice of the US’ intention to withdraw from the TPPA, which he vehemently opposed throughout the election campaign. Trump’s victory removed the possibility of President Obama trying to get the US to ratify the TPPA during the “lame duck” Congressional session between the November 2016 election and the January 2017 Inauguration of the new President (this would have been a distinct possibility if Hillary Clinton had been President Elect). Meanwhile, the New Zealand government blindly chooses to ignore reality and presses on with the TPPA legislative ratification process, while also wishfully thinking out loud about “a TPPA without the US”.

To quote Andrew Geddis, on the Pundit blog (27/11/16. http://pundit.co.nz/content/post-tpp-confusion-or-will-ms-miller-come-to-wellington): “People have started calling this option ‘TPPA-minus’, or TTPA-1. The first thing to note about it is that, despite Key's claim, the other 11 members of the Agreement can't actually bring the TPPA as originally negotiated into force if the US doesn't ratify it. According to Article 30.5.2 of the text: ‘In the event that not all original signatories have notified the Depositary in writing of the completion of their applicable legal procedures within a period of two years of the date of signature of this Agreement, it shall enter into force 60 days after the expiry of this period if at least six of the original signatories, which together account for at least 85% of the combined gross domestic product of the original signatories in 2013 have notified the Depositary in writing of the completion of their applicable legal procedures within this period’”. So, dream on, John. Ed.