WITH public hearings held in Perth by the senate inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, protests opposing the deal have rallied on.

The Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network, UnionsWA and The Greens voiced their opposition on Wednesday outside state parliament.

WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said negotiations for the agreement had been shrouded in secrecy, with the only transparency related to the deal revealed in chapters leaked on the WikiLeaks website.

“It was negotiated in secret among trade negotiators from multinational corporations and parliaments around the world didn’t get to see the agreement until after it had already been signed,” he said.

“They insist on keeping it secret because if it was out on the open then people would be horrified and they’d never get past first base. They rely on secrecy because these agreements are so utterly objectionable.” The TPP is one of the world’s largest trade liberalisation deals, covering 40 per cent of global trade and 800 million people.

Camera Icon The cost of medicines could go up under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Credit: Supplied, iStock

The partner countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. The agreement must be ratified by at least six countries that account for 85 per cent of the group’s economic output, making the US and Japan essential for its success.

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump oppose the agreement, making it appear increasingly doomed.

Senator Ludlam said if the agreement goes ahead, the winners were likely to be American pharmaceutical companies, defence contractors and possibly the nuclear industry.

“Very large corporations that are writing these chapters will certainly benefit because they’re doing the drafting purely in their own interests — that leaves out everyone else,” he said.

Senator Ludlam said the agreement sidelined democracy and created the risk of higher priced medicines, poorer working standards, as well as watered down pay conditions and safety standards.

“You end up with things like bans on fracking or uranium mining being overturned, even though democratically elected government might decide that’s in the public interest.

“It’s almost impossible to reverse it ... the time for people to get active and find out what’s going on is now.” Public hearings will be heard in Melbourne on Friday.