New Zealand should follow Malaysia's lead and bring home an unsigned Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) for public scrutiny, New Zealand First says.
Final talks on the deal are set to end in Hawaii tomorrow with trade ministers from 12 Pacific Rim countries attempting to hammer out the controversial deal.
Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed has said the signing of the agreement "will not happen in Hawaii", Malaysian media reports.
"As the minister in charge of the TPPA talks, it is my responsibility to ensure that our constitution, sovereignty and core policies of the nation, including the interests of the Bumiputera (people of the Malay race) community, are safeguarded and upheld."
NZ First's trade spokesman Fletcher Tabuteau says New Zealand should follow suit.
"While the Malaysian Trade Minister said the decision to sign or reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement would be a collective Malaysian decision, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser arrogantly said Kiwis with concerns were acting like 'breathless children'.
"Mr Groser and the Government are condemning us to a treaty that appears to have little trade benefit and lots of potentially harmful clauses."
The Maori Party has also today voiced its concern over the deal and stands "firmly opposed" to it because of the secrecy it has been negotiated in.
"We have received no assurances that the Government has considered the full impact of the TPPA on their Treaty of Waitangi obligations nor have we received any assurances that the rights of hapū, iwi and Māori will be protected under this international agreement," co-leader Marama Fox says.
She says the party supports the claims lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal about the impact the deal could have on the treaty.
"The Māori Party will never support any deal that jeopardises the well-being of tangata whenua or any other New Zealander for that matter."
Labour has issued five non-negotiable conditions which would need to be set in stone before the party supported the agreement.
United Future leader Peter Dunne, who could be a swing vote in Parliament, was coy on which way he would go.
"I'm a free trader, but we'll see what happens in terms of votes in Parliament."
While Mr Key says while the deal is "complicated and complex", New Zealand has historically done well out of free trade agreements.
"We're four-and-a-half million people at the bottom of the ocean, we're not going to get rich selling things to each other," he says.
He says opposition to the deal, including from Labour, was disappointing, especially given it was former prime minister Helen Clark who started negotiations.
Mr Key remained positive there would be good gains for the dairy sector, but conceded the deal might not eliminate tariffs 100 percent.
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