Labour's newly-minted opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement found favour at an anti-TPP event in the Octagon on Saturday.
Dunedin's Labour MPs David Clark - who is also the party's trade spokesman - and Clare Curran spoke to the more than 200 people at the protest.
A few days earlier, Labour leader Andrew Little shifted the party's position to outright opposition, ending years of uncertainty about exactly where the party stood.
Dr Clark, appointed as trade spokesman in late November, said his new role had been ‘‘a hell of a ride'' lately, referencing the pressure on Labour over its position. He said Labour's position had been ‘‘principled'' rather than ‘‘populist''.
Now that the party had had a chance to examine the text of the deal, it had decided it was not in the country's interests and breached New Zealand's sovereignty.
Dr Clark said many New Zealanders were still unsure about the TPP.‘‘We need to take middle New Zealand with us and we need to think about the way we present arguments to ensure we do.''
The crowd reserved its warmest response for Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei, who said this week's signing event with trade ministers in Auckland was by no means the end of opposition to the TPP. In fact, it was just beginning, she said.
Ms Turei said she was heartened by the insight provided by Washington trade activist Lori Wallach, who is on a speaking tour with TPP opponent Jane Kelsey.
Ms Wallach has been telling New Zealand audiences about the strength of opposition to the deal in the United States.
Ms Curran said she was proud of Mr Little for his stance on the TPP. She also paid tribute to the protesters, saying they kept the issue alive by attending protests and remaining vocal.
The good-natured and low-key crowd was then entertained with anti-TPP poems and songs, and a talk from retired Dunedin psychiatrist Gill Caradoc-Davies about the concept of a universal basic income.
Event organiser Jen Olsen said opponents had positive ideas for change, and were not just opposed to things.
With the crowd's support, she declared the Octagon a TPP-free zone, and said Dunedin should follow suit and become New Zealand's first TPP-free city.
The Dunedin event was one of numerous TPP protests held around the country on Saturday before Thursday's signing at SkyCity in Auckland.
