NEW ZEALAND: KEY'S HOLLYWOOD TRIP `ALL ABOUT TPP'

Prime Minister John Key's list of "conspiracy theorists" who are criticising his trip to Hollywood has grown to include free trade opponent Jane Kelsey.

Mr Key leaves on Wednesday night to meet movie moguls, pushing New Zealand as a destination for big-budget productions, and he says it's about jobs for Kiwis and nothing else.

Labour thinks it's inevitable he will discuss Kim Dotcom and the US bid to extradite the internet tycoon to face copyright piracy charges, and the Greens say he shouldn't be going amid the uproar over the GCSB's illegal spying.

Prof Kelsey sees a "deeper significance" in his trip.

"Look beyond Kim Dotcom - Key's Hollywood romance is about the TPP," she said.

"The entertainment industry is the principal driver of US demands for radical new intellectual property protections in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.

She says his trip is more than a photo opportunity.

"It will be a time of intense lobbying by Hollywood to sell us down the river."

The next round of talks in the multi-national TPP negotiations takes place in New Zealand in December.

When Mr Key announced his visit on Monday he rejected criticism from Labour and the Greens and predicted more "conspiracy theorists living in fantasy land" would emerge.

October 2, 2012

Source: NZWire