These posts are to appear in the fortnightly newsletter
A great turnout on December 2nd, with The Rise-Up Singers warming up the crowd to hear indigenous speakers, farmers from the Eyre Peninsula and Trades Union speak out against the federal government plans to dump nuclear waste in SA.
Details of the rally, and more photos here
There was an excellent talk by Professor Thakur, Director of the ANU Centre for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament on the new UN treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons, Building Nuclear Peace. You can hear the whole speech in the Hawke Centre podcast of the event, or get a quick overview in this interview from 3d’s Environment Show.
Also of considerable interest is the acceptance speech last Sunday night, as ICAN was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. It starts at the 50:51 mark in the ceremony video.
After a long-running campaign waged by the Minerals Council and the hard right to strip environmental organisations of their charitable status, the Turnbull government has appointed a known ideological warrior as head of the charities commission.
The Turnbull government has appointed Gary Johns to lead the federal charities regulator, the Australian Charities and Not-For- Profits Commission (ACNC).
TAKE ACTION to Defend Enviro Orgs: Call on PM Turnbull to stare down the hard right on charities
The ACNC monitors the compliance of charities and maintains a list of registered organisations. It also ensures charities abide by the laws in the Charities Act. Assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar announced the appointment at Parliament House on Thursday morning.
Over 100 Australian charities wrote an open letter in June to the Prime Minister after Assistant Minister Sukkar failed to re-appoint Susan Pascoe as Commissioner, despite very strong positive recommendations for her reappointment. The Assistant Minister had refused to meet with anyone from the ACNC for over six months even though he is responsible for the agency, and did not even meet with Susan Pascoe prior to not renewing her contract.
The former Labor MP has expressed controversial views about charities in the past. He previously argued that advocacy should not count as a charitable purpose and backed an unrealised Abbott government promise to remove it.
Such a reform would be devastating for environmental charities. He was Senior Fellow at the conservative Australian think tank the Institute of Public Affairs (the IPA), and the head of its Non-Government Organisation Unit. He joined the IPA in 1997 and left in 2006. The IPA has had a long term interest is seeing green groups lose government funding (background here).
Describing environmental groups opposing the Adani coal mine in a 2014 newspaper column, Mr Johns stated: “Why should we be forced to subsidise the views of a minority who are anti-progress?”
He said the government should deny “charity status to the enemies of progress”.
Gary Johns has criticised the entire rationale for tax-deductible status on the basis that it contradicts the “voluntary nature of charity”.
Johns also argued that governments “should be reticent” about supporting organisations that “promote viewpoints on issues where there is reasonable disagreement in the electorate”.
A range of charities and environmental organisations stated: The appointment of Dr Gary Johns to lead the Australian Charities and Not-for- profits Commission indicates that the government is intent on silencing Australians by destabilising Australian charities.
The groups signed onto this statement included:
Australian Council for International Development
Australian Conservation Foundation
Australian Council of Social Service
Campaign for Australian Aid
Community Council for Australia
Friends of the Earth Australia
Human Rights Law Centre
Lock the Gate
RESULTS Australia
Pew Charitable Trusts
World Vision Australia
WWF Australia
350.org
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David Crosbie, CEO of the Community Council for Australia; “this is a bizarre appointment. Gary Johns has made numerous public statements that clearly indicate he is opposed to many charities and their work. Only a government committed to attacking the charities sector would put someone like Gary Johns in as head of the ACNC.
Cassandra Goldie, the chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service, said the appointment undermined the regulator’s independence. “We see the appointment through the lens about what it says to the government’s approach to the regulation of the charitable sector,” she said.
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Marc Purcell, the chief executive of the Australian Council For International Development, said the move “displays a contempt by the government for Australia’s charities”. “We’re concerned that this appointment couples with the upcoming review of the legislation for the charity regulator could combine into a perfect storm that may destroy charitable advocacy and tax deductions for advocacy.” |
This article in The Conversation from earlier this year, gives a good explanation of attacks on charities, you can also read more on the history of attacks on Friends of the Earth and other green groups HERE.
Trade deals affect people’s everyday lives from the food we eat to the energy we use, and should not be discussed in secret, behind closed doors. Yet sadly, this is exactly what is happening at this year’s upcoming World Trade Organization meeting in Buenos Aires from 10-13 December.
Friends of the Earth International has been advocating for a fair and sustainable trade agenda for over two decades, yet this is the first time we have been banned from participating in the WTO.
In an unprecedented move, the Argentine government revoked our accreditation, together with 60 individuals from a diverse range of trade unions, farmers’ and consumer rights organisations.
The official reason for our ban is that we have “been making explicate calls for violent protests on social media, desiring to create scenes of chaos and intimidation.” Yet this information can be disproved simply by checking our Twitter account, which has never made incitements to violence.
“Locking people out of the WTO will only further undermine its legitimacy.”
At the same time, we do not shy away disagreeing with many of the pro-corporate policies and deals being pushed by the WTO and the Argentine government, which are often stumbling blocks for action on climate change.
When India’s National Solar Mission, which aims to bring energy to millions of people by building 100 GW of solar energy, was found “guilty” by the WTO of creating local jobs, we spoke up.
We have also protested WTO policies that penalise and prohibit developing countries from undertaking public stockholding programmes. This blocks food sovereignty for the world’s poorest, and livelihoods for peasant, indigenous and small-scale farmers, yet allows the EU and USA to provide massive global market distorting subsidies that beef up agribusiness interests while ruining farmers abroad.
A crackdown on our rights to debate and oppose such trade policies is an attack on our ability to decide what kind of world we want to live in. The backlash against civil society by President Mauricio Macri’s government in Argentina is worrying, and reveals the true face of his government: neoliberal, corporate and serving one-per-cent of the population.
Read the full article: “I was banned from the WTO for defending People’s Rights” by Alberto Villarreal, spokesperson for trade at Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean.
RALLY TIME! DON’T DUMP ON SA.
Saturday Dec 2, 2017, 11 am
Parliament House, North Tce, Adelaide, Kaurna Land.
Family friendly event. Bring your friends!
Twelve months ago, the Second Citizen’s Jury on the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission soundly rejected a proposal to store nuclear waste in SA.
However, our state still faces nuclear waste dump proposal initiated by the Federal government. In the lead up to the SA state election in March, we need to send a strong message to politicians to make it clear that SA will not be the radioactive dump state. Get inspired by watching the ‘We say NO’ short film if you haven’t already.
Get even more inspired by watching this short video of Scott Ludlam (Facebook) explaining the significance of the issue and why you should come to the rally:
The rally is packed with great speakers and entertainment. We are lucky to have indigenous dancers the Dusty Feet Mob performing as well as the Rise Up Singers.