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Hot Topic Scrutiny
Hot Topic Scrutiny
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NBR Radio: Jacobi squares off against Kelsey on TPP

Law professor Jane Kelsey — who recently slayed Mike Hosking over the TPP — goes head-to-head with trade advocate Stephen Jacobi on NBR Radio and on demand on MyNBR Radio.

NBR Radio
Wed, 05 Aug 2015

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The TPP will put “handcuffs on future governments," says Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey.

“The shallowness of the New Zealand economy’s fragility has been shown with the fall in the commodity prices in dairy recently,” she says in an NBR Radio head-to-head debate with New Zealand International Business Forum executive director and TPP booster Stephen Jacobi 

“If we have, what I call, a farm and F.I.R.E economy - finance, insurance and real-estate - where people look to get rich either by buying or selling property with borrowed money, or by exporting more low-value-added dairy products, we have a pretty bleak future," Ms Kelsey says.

Mr Jacobi responds the TPP is important as it will secure an advantage for New Zealand exporters, business and workers.

“We’re interested to see what we can do to build the conditions of growth in the economy, to get jobs for people who need them and to provide livelihoods," he says.

“This is bread and butter on the table. We can’t simply stand by and hold our breath while other people exclude us from international markets."

Dr Kelsey argues a public debate needs to occur before the deal is signed, not after, and warned Mr Jacobi not to “play lawyers with me.”

Mr Jacobi says he would rather not play lawyers but instead would rather play trade negotiators. Click on the NBR Radio box below to hear their full clash.

NBR Radio
Wed, 05 Aug 2015
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NBR Radio: Jacobi squares off against Kelsey on TPP
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