We Were at the Trans Pacific Partnership Protests in Auckland

The Trans Pacific Partnership is one of the most talked about trade deals of all time. Which is surprising, given the public knew almost nothing about the substance of the deal until discussions were well and truly over. It's this intense secrecy, rather than the inevitable compromises to ensure the free trade deal is ratified, that has made opposing the TPP almost trendy.

Just so you're up to speed, the Trans Pacific Partnership is a free trade agreement that will affect around 40 percent of the world's economy. This is why it rather grandly gets called the "biggest deal of our generation."

On the upside, it will become a lot cheaper to buy and sell things within the TPP region, with 98 percent of trade tariffs eliminated under the deal. For a lot of New Zealanders though, these potential pluses to signing on don't outweigh the dangers of such a sweeping and secretive deal. Today protesters took over central Auckland, where the TPP is being signed into law.

Standing outside the SKYCITY Convention Centre, where the deal was being inked, amid chants of "Fuck John Key," it's clear the lack of democratic input in this decision is its most frustrating element. For more than seven years the TPP was negotiated behind closed doors with zero public disclosure or input until WikiLeaks smuggled out a draft copy of the deal in 2013.

Much of what people feared in the WikiLeaks draft has remained in the final deal: Many of New Zealand's industries will not make the free trade cut, copyright laws will get stricter and patents on many products, including essential medicines, will be extended to 20 years. Vitally, the investor-state dispute clauses may leave the government vulnerable to legal action from companies. Let's just say the government decided to introduce plain packaging laws to try and reduce smoking rates. Tobacco companies could potentially sue for lost profits, which is exactly what happened in Australia.

TVNZ reporter Matt McLean described today's protests in Auckland as intense. "They shut down the motorway, I mean that's unprecedented. I can't recall any type of protest in New Zealand to this degree of intensity in my lifetime," he said. "There were so many times I thought it was over and then it would flare back up again."

Moving among the crowd later in the day it was clear the atmosphere was still emotionally charged but by the afternoon everyone was worse for wear, having been there from the early morning. The tension would break every now and then as songs like "Rock 'n' Robin" started up from the crowd.

At the entrance to the deal's official signing, a line of officers formed a barricade to stop protesters entering the convention centre. Nobody on either side was aggressive. A few people wearing masks and draped in Maori flags attempted to initiate the haka, still relentless to be heard.

As always there was a measure of people who'd come only be jump on the bandwagon. Many denounced Key and the deal without being able to name what exactly they found concerning about it. However, there were others who spoke eloquently about New Zealand's vulnerability should the TPP be endorsed by parliament. Whether aware of TPP specifics or not, the overall sentiment of the crowd was a real desire to be heard, underscored by the knowledge that there is still a long way to go.

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