March Against TPPA 7th March 2015
These protest marches against TPPA really are a statement against corporate greed in New Zealand. The TPPA will serve to profit those huge multi-national corporations, such as Monsanto, Bayer, Du Pont and Syngenta, whilst minimizing our own profit. More for them, and less for us.
The price of food is bound to go up.
Disappointing that the turn-out yesterday to the Nation-wide protest against TPPA was so low. The marches over the country did not attract anything like the numbers who have protested against ocean oil drilling, or the sale of assets marches.
The low response to the anti TPPA protest is largely because most New Zealanders still do not have a clue about the TPPA. Many have never heard of it.
And this ignorance is just what is intended by our New Zealand National government, and the drivers for TPPA from America.
How come the public has no knowledge about the TPPA and what it will do to our way of life?
The title is a nebulous one, for a start. ‘TPPA’ has been chosen deliberately to disguise the reality of the proposed movement which will have our rights whittled away.
We have so many abbreviations for this and that in government departments . SIPS, WINZ, MAF, Who cares if there is another one?
But the media – newspapers, TV and radio, have been primed to keep any discussion about TPPA to a minimum. I did hear that ‘Campbell Live’ ran a good programme about the erosion of rights, and the economic impact for New Zealand. But nought else on TV, radio or newspaper.
And so, in Hamilton, there were only around 200 demonstrators, by the looks of the photos on Facebook.
And in Auckland, where the protesters usually come out in their thousands to support a just cause, were only 1500 to 2000 at the most. The low turn-out shows how TPPA means nothing to the average New Zealander.
Not that protesting has had any influence thus far on this government. The majority of people were against the sale of public assets, and despite many marches of huge numbers, petitions to government, etc, they still charged on ahead to sell off public assets which our predecessors have worked hard for.
New Zealand Growers Will Suffer With TPPA: Because of TPPA, virtually everybody in agriculture will be at risk of being sued.
Our heritage seeds and trees are all at risk Because of Monsanto’s huge presence in agriculture, their modified seeds are taking over, which is putting our heritage seeds and trees and plants at risk.. Many old varieties of seed and fruits have died out because of the monopolization of the big agriculture companies.
Expect To Be Sued If You Lose A Heritage Crop Due To a Rogue Patented Variety
Losing our heitage plants is one thing – but having to pay for the contamination and loss of our own crops, because patented rogue seed has taken over our crops, is another.
TPPA will put us under American law, which means any of us can be sued for our crops accidentally being contaminated by genetically modified patented seeds, such as those which Monsanto produce.
In America, some of these big companies are employing people to go around the countryside testing all crops. If it is found that cross-pollination with their patented varieties has occurred, then you will be fined or sued.
Is This What We Want? Aready, innocent farmers, in America and other countries, are being sued by Monsanto and other agri-giant companies because their seeds, or a cross-pollinated version of them, have been found on the farmer’s property. This will happen in New Zealand too, if the TPPA comes into force. We will have to abide by American law which favours these big seed and chemical giants.
The situation is most bizarre and corrupt. Monsanto, Syngenta and DuPont, among other seed producing corporations, have their seeds virtually all over the world now. They proliferate naturally, by wind and birds carrying the seeds to other locations, away from their original planting sites.
The farmer who grows his own heritage varieties of seed is not protected at all if his or her crops become contaminated by Monsanto’s genetically altered patented seeds. The law is on Monsanto and the other big companies’ side.
Freedom Of Speech Will Be A Thing Of The Past: The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, known as The TPPA agreement, will severely curtail our Freedom Of Speech and weaken our human rights.
We will not be allowed to discuss the ill-effects of any poison, such as the glyphosphate-containing RoundUp, or neonicotinoid poisons which cause bee colony collapse disorder, killing bees and other pollinating insects. Because if we do make a statement against the use of these toxic chemicals, then we stand to be sued by those overseas chemical manufacturers of the said chemical, for loss of sales, loss of revenue.
Such is American law.
They will say ‘there is no proof’ or ‘prove it’. But without sharing our stories about the ill-effects of toxic chemicals, there will be no body of case studies to examine, and we will be none the wiser, except for the ‘research’ which they tell us to be true.
Other related articles:
Bee-Killing Insecticides Banned In Europe, But Now Bayer Sues
Here is an interesting document entitled ‘Negotiating Healthy Trade In Australia – Health Impact Assessment of the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.’ Read about how food labelling could be affected, and how alcohol and tobacco advertisements might be affected to the detriment of the nation’s health.
http://hiaconnect.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/TPP_HIA.pdf
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