A former MP and director of Oxfam New Zealand (2003-14) warns against a Free Trade Agreement

Barry Coates, a former MP and director of Oxfam New Zealand from 2003-14 warns against a Free Trade Agreement that New Zealand and Australia signed with 12 other Pacific Island countries, which the government “desperately” chased after the collapse of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). “A major impact will be the loss of tariff revenue from reducing their tariff rates. This will reduce funding for social priorities like health care and education, a point made by the IMF. As the Pacific Network on Globalisation commented, ‘Cutting border tariffs in small Pacific nations deprives those governments of crucial revenue they could use for schools and hospitals, and trade deals like this one often encourage governments to privatize and outsource public services.’”

Published on

Apr 24, 2017




Subscribe for weekly updates