At the heart of the attack on our sovereignty is the TPPA (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement). It is described as a 21st century agreement that will reach further behind the border than any previous free trade or investment agreement. Parliament will have no effective say over these new rules unless they require changes to New Zealand’s domestic law.
There are around 29 chapters in the agreement, very few of which involve old-fashioned trade. Numbered at about 4. Most of them aim to curb the process and content of government’s domestic policy and regulatory decisions.
In practice, the TPPA would give foreign governments and well-resourced foreign companies the right to influence our domestic decisions, and marginalise our own national priorities, advocates and agencies, including Parliament and our courts. Therefore the TPPA is a potent threat to national sovereignty over decision-making processes and institutions, and to open and accountable government. We can only hope that this government, and the next one, will resist the corporate overture and protect the democratic rights of the populace.
Interviewed by Lisa Er, Edward gives us a little of the background to the TPPA which began with an agreement between Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand. It was planned to be a gold standard agreement, with Labour’s Phil Goff negotiating for New Zealand. The US then became interested and now there are 12 countries negotiating the TPPA.
Edward Miller is strategic adviser at FIRST Union, organiser and spokesperson for It's Our Future NZ (the campaign against the TPPA) and is a founding member of the Aotearoa Human Rights Lawyers Association. He has recently completed a Masters thesis on food speculation, and is interested in food, trade, development, finance, and labour and environmental issues. His choice to become a lawyer grew out of his interest in activism.
Edward is concerned about the financialisation of our food. The world can actually feed 13 billion people, but because of financial speculators manipulating and inflating prices the distribution of food is limited to those with enough money to purchase. Agribusiness farming and practices, and scientific manipulation of our food is also a part of this growing corporate food rort.
Edward speaks about the supermarket duopoly in New Zealand that was recently highlighted, quite correctly, by Labour minister Shane Jones. Consumers and suppliers alike are subjected to the effects of pricing particularly by Countdown in their bid to be competitive and gain profit for their Australian owners.
The FIRST union, where Edward is a policy analyst and researcher, grew out of a merger of two unions, in 2011. FIRST is an acronym for Finance, Industry, Retail, Stores, and Transport. Edward explains the result of the deregulation of the forestry industry, the low union representation, and the resulting deaths. In the union they refer to those deaths as a Pike River every five years! Industry, which includes forestry, textiles, clothing and baking are the types of businesses that employ a lot of people, and that is declining, because of the global economy. Retail, tending to sell a lot of imported products or products made from overseas components, is on the increase.
Bearing in mind that most workers earn between $13.75 and $20 an hour Edward also highlights the new money lending business Payday Lenders that targets the small borrower. It appears to lend money at interest rates of a minimum of 300%. This is clearly unacceptable and should be regulated by government.
In fact the government’s ability to legislate will be seriously limited by the TPPA and so, rather obviously, globalisation is only serving corporate interest and the rich few, and is leaving the rest of the world behind, as the general population become poorer and poorer.
As George Sorus, business magnate, investor, and philanthropist observed, “Perhaps the greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the world today comes from the formation of unholy alliances between government and business.
"This is not a new phenomenon. It used to be called fascism: the outward appearances of the democratic process are observed, but the powers of the state are diverted to the benefit of private interests.”
This programme is sponsored by www.theawarenessparty.com
There are “NO WAY TPPA” rallies throughout New Zealand at 1pm this Saturday, March 29th. To find the closest rally to you, go to www.itsourfuture.org.nz
When you listen to this interview, you will very quickly notice that there appears to be no NZ businessman articulating the positivity and profundity of inspirational business models, that can bring a revolutionary impulse to family, community and cooperative commercial archetypes to this country.
If you think that we can wrestle back localised business interests, into the NZ communities hands - listen to this interview, based on Scandinavian and especially Finnish practices.
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Experienced holistic health practitioners Erica Lang and Liz Hart offer simple and effective tips and options towards relieving stress and experiencing optimal health.
Erica who uses a combination of Bodytalk and Counseling helps her clients with a wide range of health challenges. Her clients inevitably experience relief from emotional pain and stress , often feeling real transformational changes to their life.
Liz a local pioneer and teacher of Emotional Freedom technique explains how she helps her clients overcome long term health issues by helping modify unhelpful behaviors and attitudes. Liz offers empowering skills to self manage good health providing clients with tools for managing stress and pain.
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This GreenPlanetFM program is sponsored by:
GLOBAL HEALTH CLINICS: 5 Anzac Street Takapuna North Shore City
Email: info [at] globalhealthclinics.co.nz
Phone: (09) 488 0208 (09) 488 0215
Web: http://www.globalhealthclinics.co.nz
Global Health Clinics use a creative blend of integrating contemporary and
alternative methods together to bring about greater well being or the
healing you have been seeking.
'When the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.'
~ Cree Indian saying
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The Traditional Native American lifestyle is a life of prayer to all of creation. Prayer is so deeply woven into every aspect of life that there is a prayer for every action, on waking and greeting the morning sun, on eating and thanking all the beings that have made that meal possible. Each moment can be made sacred when gratitude is shown for the gifts of this life. This is most beautifully summed up in the phrase Mitakuye Oyasin, Lakota for 'All my relations.' When a prayer is made it is followed by these words that acknowledge our interconnectedness to all life on this planet.
The Web of Life is something that we are part of and this is celebrated in all Native Traditions. Celebration and Gratitude being at the core of Native American Spirituality.
And this gratitude, ritual and otherwise is something that we sometimes forget in our consumer societies so full of things that it often takes a moment to remember the small miracles of every day life.
'The Elm Trees will die, Huge stone monsters will tear open the face of the earth and rivers burning aflame.' These words are taken from The Seventh Generation Prophecy, one well known by many of the Native Nations and remembered here by Gail Whitlow of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), Mohawk nation. These words bring to mind Dutch elm disease that has wiped out all but a few elms left in Britain or much of continental Europe. Mining devastating huge swathes of the earth and Fracking that uses and pollutes huge quantities of our most precious resource, water, not to mention the local devastation in Australia where fires have raged for weeks in New South Wales.
The Seventh Generation prophecy says that seven Generations after White man has come into contact with the Native Americans is the time when change must come and that that time is now. Now, is the time to act to bring ourselves back into balance for ourselves and the planet. The prophecy says that this time will come when the wisdom teachings that have been preserved by native people will be needed as we learn how to come back into balance.
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Gail Whitlow, Pipe Carrier and Medicine Woman says 'I am born into the Bear clan. This birth manifests as Healing and medicine. We all once knew our paths according to what clan we were born into. Most now spend all their lives searching for a connection.' Gail has set up Ancestral Voices healing center on the 6 Nations reserve in Ontario Canada where she was raised. Her life's purpose since she was 25 has been to create and facilitate events that foster the traditional ceremonies that allow our connection to Spirit.
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Gil Aguilera is an Honorary Sundance Elder and Staff Carrier, member of Tokala Warrior Society, Chiricahua Apache Alliance, World Council of Elders, Facilitator of Global Spiritual Unity and Condor and Eagle Gatherings. A US Armed Forces Veteran with a successful career as a program administrator in Aerospace and government programs. Gil has been on a Worldwide journey of self discovery seeking the 'original spiritual instructions' that the great spirit handed down to us and how to best incorporate these first teachings into his own spiritual path is his life's mission.
This Journey has taken him to most of the North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He has prayed with his Chanupa (sacred pipe) in many Native American sacred ceremonies and vision quests and sat in council with many indigenous spiritual world elders to discover his true spiritual mission. Gil utilizes his integrity, spiritual wisdom, and knowledge to unite people of all world cultures to integrate our living past culture with our present and to work together towards restoring our sacred relationships with the Great Spirit and Mother Earth.
The current environmental crisis of many of the worlds eco-systems has been foretold by Native American nations. The fulfillment of these prophecies at this time is seen as the call to wake-up and for people to bring their lives back into alignment into harmonious living with the planet.
Gil Aguilera, Gail Whitlow and Ruben Saufkie are coming to New Zealand to share their teachings at two not be be missed events. Ruben, a Hopi is from the "Patkiwunga" Water Clan and will be leading a Water Blessing Ceremony open to all at Kawai Purapura at 12pm on Sunday the 22nd March - Joining hearts and minds with many others in a synchronized global event.
For more information please contact Stephanie Frost at
frost.steph@gmail.com and check out the heartspace website at
www.heartspace.co.nz for full details on these events:
Tales from Turtle Island of Prophecies and Healing
113 Mt Eden Road
The Quaker Meeting House, Wed 19 Mar at 6:30pm
Healing The Sacred Hoop - Spiritual Gathering of Elders Kawai Purapura Retreat Centre, Auckland Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd March
Hopi Water Blessing - 12pm Sunday 23rd March @ Kawai Purapura Albany.