On Wednesday 20 August 2014 a public meeting about the looming Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal has attracted heated discussion and debate from concerned residents in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne in Trade Minister Andrew Robb’s electorate of Goldstein.

At the meeting three experts; Dr David Legge from La Trobe University, Tom Warne-Smith from the Environmental Justice Victoria and former advisor to the ACT government and Angela Daly from Swinburne University explored the potential impacts of the TPP including upon the cost of medicines, the ability of foreign investors to sue the government and internet privacy.

Dr Legge said that, “The risks of the TPP from a public health point of view, include price increases for medicines and new limits on public health regulation, including tobacco control, food labelling and the marketing of junk food to children. These risks loom particularly large for developing countries joining this agreement. It appears…