Secrecy of negotiations

The Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations have been widely criticised for their secrecy. Under the current process,  the details of the deal were kept secret until after the text was agreed, and Cabinet, not Parliament makes the decision to sign the agreement. Parliament does not get to vote on the whole text,  only on the implementing legislation.

For more information, see our explanation of the Australian process for trade agreements, and the Report of the Senate Inquiry into the trade agreement process, aptly called Blind Agreement.

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Last updated: Nov 2014