Australian MPs allowed to see top-secret trade deal text but can't reveal contents for four years

Exclusive: Politicians told they could view the current Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiating text if they signed a four-year confidentiality provision

Australian politicians have been told they can view the current confidential negotiating text for the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, but only if they agree not to divulge anything they see for four years, despite expectations the deal could be finalised within months.

As 10 years of highly secret negotiations over the 12-nation trade and investment pact draw to a close and the US Congress debates whether to grant president Barack Obama fast-track authority, MPs and senators were briefed on the deal Monday night by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade assistant secretary Elizabeth Ward and other officials.

Related: Here's how much corporations paid US senators to fast-track the TPP bill