Final negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership are currently under way in Hawaii.

There’s a lot of politicking going on but it’s all based on very limited information – as is normal for trade negotiations they are being done ‘secretly’.

We have to wait until there’s an official announcement about what has been negotiated before we know whether the pros might outweigh the cons for New Zealand or not.

Russel Norman and the Greens were complaining yesterday, in Question Time in Parliament and on Twitter:

@NZGreens 

The Govt has told other countries our negotiation position on #TPPA, so why keep it secret from NZers?

If they need to ask that they should be asking themselves if they are ready to be a part of Government. Negotiations frequently need to be un-publicised.

I suspect the Greens don’t publicise all the negotiations they have within their party. That’s normal too.

Greens may need to experience the reality of being a part of Government to understand how things work. Transparency is a good ideal to aspire to, but can sometimes be counter-productive, especially in international negotiations.

Once we find out what is in the final agreement we will be able to judge whether it will be good for New Zealand overall or not.

Until then the guessing and scaremongering and naivety will continue. And I guess Norman will continue to pander to his base as he cannot contribute to the negotiations in Hawaii.