Hi EZ, thanks for coming back to me. And yes, I absolutely agree - the TPPA is (as any mutually agreed contract) not black and white, but hopefully a give and take balancing the interests of everybody involved. Sounds like the US Republicans as well as a number of Democrats don't want to sign it either ... maybe they think that what has been negotiated is just too good for US business?
What I don't understand is what is happening at the moment in Labour. For sure - there should be a healthy debate about the pros and cons of the agreement inside and outside of the political parties, but what I see instead is pope Andrew telling his order what they have to believe and dishing out punishments if some of his cardinals decide to use their own grey cells to think instead of putting all their faith into pope Andrew. Mighty nice of him to give Phil Goff a dispensation, allowing at least him to use his own head to think.
Just help me to understand - is Labour a religious community following the order of their leader(s) ... or are they a political organisation worried about the best of the country?
Personally I prefer political organisations which allow their members to think for themselves, but if signing up to Labour involves giving up your own judgement, than maybe this is one of the major differences between the Liberals and the Left ...