The prime minister’s equivocation on whether a proposed Trans-pacific Partnership trade agreement (TPPA) will allow multinational companies to sue the New Zealand government raises concerns for the tertiary education sector, according to TEU national president Dr Sandra Grey.

Last year the Prime Minister said it was far-fetched and extremely unlikely a foreign investor would be able to sue the New Zealand government.

But a few days ago a US trade negotiator, Barbara Wiesel, said that was no longer New Zealand’s position.

In response to questions about New Zealand and Australian positions during a briefing in Washington on 31 January Ms Wiesel said “New Zealand had retracted the Prime Minister’s statement. It is not their position.”

Under standard US terms for such agreements, investors can claim millions in compensation from governments on the grounds that new regulation has adversely affected their investment. Under a TPPA that would apply to investors from all participating countries, including our largest sources of investment, the US and Australia, said Dr Jane Kelsey, author of No Ordinary Deal: Unmasking the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement.

Dr Grey says the risk for New Zealand tertiary institutions is that private American universities could sue the New Zealand government if they felt they were not given a fair chance to compete for students here in New Zealand.  Such private universities could, for instance, claim that our accreditation procedure for being a university or polytechnic, or our quality controls are unfairly restrictive and exclude them from operating here in New Zealand. If that happened the government could either end up changing those laws or paying the private institution compensation. It’s not worth the risk.

Dr Grey says that her concerns are based on the text of previous similar trade agreement that the US has negotiated.  “We don’t know what is in the TPPA because our government refuses to show its own people what it is negotiating to sign over.”