STRAIGHT AND TRUE

JOSIE PAGANI

More anti-TPP contradiction

I thought this sceptical column about environmental protections in the TPP is a valuable contribution to the debate.

It highlights policy areas that could usefully be the subject of tighter international cooperation and regulation, including the illegal trade in endangered wild flora and fauna, commercial whaling and shark finning, the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples, and greenhouse gas emissions.

But here is the inconsistency in criticism of the TPP that has been bugging me: You cannot simultaneously argue the TPP should contain much more stringent regulation and protection of these concerns, and also argue that the TPP is mostly not about free trade and too much about regulation, and therefore a threat to our sovereignty. These criticisms of TPP are diametrically opposed.

Sure, go ahead and argue for more stringent regulation. Or object to international agreements on the grounds that they supplant or surrender some domestic freedom to regulate in breach of the agreement. But do not pretend a reasonable person can coherently hold both positions.