The Trans Pacific Partnership – why it matters and why New Zealand shouldn’t be afraid

The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is viewed by some as the next European Union; an ultimately pointless exercise that will tether together large economies and create a serious restriction to the freedom of NZ to govern itself.
However, this perception is inaccurate as the partnership is a free trade agreement rather than a unification of countries with all the restrictions which accompany a unification of countries under one banner.

The benefits of a free trade agreement between NZ and major global powers such as the United States are right to be viewed with a healthy dose of cynicism, but also a realisation of the positive benefits it could bring.

For example, a free trade agreement means more than simply tighter copyright laws (which after all, only exist to protect the rights of the creators and should never be grumbled about by anyone keen to encourage innovation).

It means free access to some of the world’s largest and most lucrative markets. This would mean a boom for the Kiwi agricultural sector, making it easier to export goods to other countries by removing barriers and red tape. It would also allow other business sectors to tap into overseas markets, encouraging increased customer bases and ultimately profits.

With or without the TPP, the world is inevitably becoming a smaller place, even for New Zealand. We will increasingly be required to interact with the rest of the world and this agreement gives us the opportunity to negotiate advantages and forge partnerships with other countries to our own benefit, right here and right now. It will give us a voice in an increasingly crowded world and the advantage on our neighbours who may not be as forward-thinking.

How communication is defining the race for the White House

Barack Obama’s successful bid for the White House in 2009 was hailed as a triumph of social media. No presidential candidate had ever before utilised social media so successfully (or arguably had the opportunity to do so prior to the invention of Facebook and Twitter), allowing Obama to reach out to a younger and previously indifferent voting pool.


This year has seen a challenger to Obama’s social media crown, with a different lesson for us all – if you are not prepared to be quoted, then step away from the Twitterverse. Fast.

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has attempted to use social media in a similar fashion, and has either shown brilliant communications skills or perhaps how bad communications kills a campaign.

Recent reports have quoted him as managing to offend many major powers in a matter of weeks, with US media labelling the trip ‘around the world in weighty gaffes’. A few choice quotes are Tweeting that the UK is not ready to host the Olympics; that a better culture is why Israel is more successful an economy than Palestine; and his press rep. telling journalists to kiss his unmentionable during a visit to Poland.

Is this however a stroke of genius and are these so-called gaffes been to show his more traditional Republican voters that he has strongly held opinions and means to stick to them? Or is he really just committing a series of uneducated blunders?

Perhaps in Romney’s case the old adages are the best – silence is golden.