At the last Trans Pacific Partnership protests in November, the 300 at the Raglan rally exceeded the number at the Hamilton protest. This Saturday there was no gathering in Raglan, but about 10% of those who’d been at the previous rally joined the Waikato rally outside Te Awa – The Base. It’s probably a sign of increasing awareness of the TPPA that on Saturday there were well over 1,000 in Hamilton, and some estimate 2,000.
On the way home Raglan marchers were discussing ‘what next?’ The hope is that, like the mining in national park campaign, more protests will tip the balance and stop TPPA. There was agreement that there’s to be nothing in it for us, just an extra $26m on Pharmac’s bill (and that’s probably low; it’s a government estimate), the risk of yet more foreign tribunals ruling in favour of multinational corporations and expenses-paid junkets during the negotiating. So there’ll be a planning meeting at 7pm on Mon 31 August at Raglan Farmstay (http://raglanfarmstay.com/). If you’d like to help, come along, ring 825 7866, or offer help on the https://www.facebook.com/events/835063413190548/ Facebook page.