“Now we are told they plan to rush it through the select committee in just two days, next week and the week after, presumably so they can pass the necessary legislation and the Prime Minister can secure some pre-election glory during Indian Prime Minister Modi’s visit in July.”
“New Zealanders, especially the media, were fed carefully prepared propaganda about the deal before anyone could see the text. Once those of us with the skills and responsibilities to do so could analyse the fine print, it was already signed. That revealed deep flaws in the agreement that will create major problems in the years ahead.”
“We were told we could have our turn during select committee examination of the agreement.”
Jane Kelsey says that always seemed unlikely, given the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade committee has shown a blatant disregard for its obligations to independently review agreements, and decided not to conduct the review of the treaty examination process recommended by the last Standing Orders Committee review.
“ I indicated that I planned to come from north of Auckland to Wellington, at considerable expense, to discuss my submission with the committee.”
“Instead, the committee has continued to show contempt for submitters by allocating 5 minutes to me as an individual, and 10 minutes to groups, irrespective of our expertise or the significance of the agreement.”
Professor Kelsey urged the Labour Opposition, whom the government is relying on to make that happen, to get a backbone and refuse to be complicit in this abuse of parliamentary process. “They are the only ones who can stand up to this. Their failure to do so will make them complicit in allowing a deeply flawed agreement to be waved through without even a pretence of scrutiny”.
For Jane Kelsey’s submission see https://www.bilaterals.org/?10-key-takeaways-on-the-india-nz
Professor Emeritus Jane Kelsey
Faculty of Law
University of Auckland
Aotearoa New Zealand.
10 KEY TAKEAWAYS ON THE INDIA NZ FTA
Professor Emeritus Jane Kelsey
The Politics of the Deal 1
The Economics of the Deal 2
India’s Unilateral Clawbacks 3
Investment Commitment a Free Pass to India 4
Te Tiriti o Waitangi Goes Backwards 5
Little Difference on Labour Mobility 6
Traditional Knowledge and Genetic Resources 7
Rongoā and Traditional Medicine 8
The Mirage of Sustainable Development 9
A Genuine Pre-ratification Review 10.