Statehouse Report welcomes Sky News Australia viewers with a special 2016 election feature — “Answers for Aussies.”
In this feature, which was unveiled during an interview with Statehouse Report‘s Andy Brack by Sky News political editor David Speers, we made an offer to Australians trying to make sense of the crazy 2016 presidential election — to do our best to answer questions they may have about this most odd of presidential contests.
On this page, we offer a running log of questions and answers (most recent questions are first):
On the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Q: Why are both candidates so against the trans pacific trade deal in the U.S.? It has bipartisan support here. But they both seem, Trump more than Clinton, to say the deal will take jobs away etc etc.
I suggest this deal was worked on for many years by both sides in the U.S. My query relates to a reason why many of us here in Australia are watching the outcome next Tuesday more closely than we usually would.
— Phil, Manly, NSW, Australia
Andy Brack, Statehouse Report: Thanks for your question Phil. To be clear — this is an issue about which I know little. In general, the TPP isn’t that much of an issue in the national campaign, but it has made some headlines. Most voters, I guess, don’t really care about this as it’s too big for their brains.
However, it’s pretty clear Trump is using it to pound anybody that he doesn’t like on trade deals because he believes they hurt American jobs. In fact, better productivity and advanced robotics may be top causes of lost jobs more than them skipping to Mexico, according to one recent report I read. But with Trump and company, they are just going to try to build that wall and any other walls (like anti-TPP) to keep pushing the narrow view.
Clinton’s position is more finessed. According to Politifact, she has done a complete flip flop as a presidential candidate as compared to when she was secretary of state whose job was to support it. More here. I suspect that her position has evolved because she wants more protections in TPP, which makes her oppose it now, but that she also felt pressure from the Bernie Sanders folks to change her position and become more protectinist. Some would argue that it’s OK for politicians to change their minds over time.
I’m not sure technically what happens with this long-negotiated deal next year. If Trump wins, which I doubt, it will probably die in the U.S. But if Clinton wins, the Senate is the body that has to approve trade deals — so it might kind of be out of her hands. We’ll just have to wait and see.
- If you have a question, please click here to send and we’ll do the best we can to answer it.
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