The following motion was passed unanimously the the University of Sydney Branch of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). That the University of Sydney NTEU Branch endorse the following statement and communicate it to the NTEU NSW Division and to the National Executive. Australia’s practice of the mandatory detention of people seeking asylum is wrong and harmful and the NTEU is already committed to supporting actions that will bring about an end to this policy. Mandatory detention relies on commercial partners and private capital. One major point of influence for the NTEU in corporate decision-making is the investment profile of the UniSuper fund. A decision by UniSuper not to invest in firms that collaborate with the Australian Government in the mandatory detention regime can make a significant difference to the capacity and willingness of those firms to participate in this abusive regime, as well as the capacity of the Government to find commercial partners through which to implement the policy. We call on the NTEU to seek UniSuper to: • Immediately divest from Decmil Group Limited, in which it holds 780,000+ shares (see Table at point 4). Since July 2013, Decmil (through a subsidiary) has taken on almost $200 million in federal government contracts to build and expand the detention facility on Manus Island. • Undertake an audit of its entire value chain for exposure to detention contracting, including, but not limited to, the following companies involved in the detention of refugees: Decmil Group, Transfield Services, Toll Holdings, and Wilson Security. • Where exposure is identified, take steps to divest from implicated companies • Communicate the results of the audit to the NTEU and its own account holders. This statement commits the NTEU to take all reasonable steps to change UniSuper’s practices. [Further] That the NTEU-nominated member of the UniSuper Board, should make clear representations to UniSuper in keeping with the values of this statement.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 07:53:24 +0000
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