The Indonesia Human Rights Committee has written to five of the Crown Financial Institutes (CFIs) and to the Minister of Finance calling on each of them to follow the example of the Norway Government Pension Fund and divest from Freeport McMoran Inc and Rio Tinto Corporation. Norway has taken this step after an intense and detailed assessment of the evidence of ‘severe environmental damage’ caused by the operations of the open cast Freeport McMoran gold and copper mine in West Papua. Read the rest of this entry »
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Report from Demo Against Superfund Investments in Freeport
Posted by omar123 on August 18, 2008
04 Aug 2008
On Friday August 1st, picketers gathered outside the NZ Superfund office in Downtown Auckland to protest against the fund investing taxpayer money in the US mining company Freeport McMoRan. Since 1967 Freeport has been mining copper and gold in, Indonesian Military occupied, West Papua. Every day Freeport’s Grasberg mine dumps 700,000 tonnes of mining waste into Papua’s rivers. The pollution is so bad it can be seen from NASA satellite images from space.
Since it began mining in Papua, Freeport has paid the Indonesian Military to provide security from angry locals. The Indonesian Military is estimated to have killed as many as 100,000 West Papuans since invading in 1963. West Papuans living near the mine have suffered massive human rights abuses. Read the rest of this entry »
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Action against Superfund Investment in Freeport McMoran
Posted by investmentwatch on July 21, 2008
Everyday ordinary West Papuans stare ecocide and genocide in the face with nothing more than their commitment to freedom. Surely we can back them up with a little commitment of our own.
Join the picket of the Superfund office on August 1 and tell the Superfund that our future and the future of the Papuan people is not in Freeport.
Where: NZ Superannuation Fund office, outside the AMP building, on the corner of Custom Street West and Albert Street, Auckland CBD.
When: Friday 1 August at 4.30pm -5.30pm
Organised by: Investment Watch Aotearoa New Zealand | investmentwatch.wordpress.com | nowarp@xtra.co.nz
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International Women’s Day for Disarmament 2008: Protests, petition and information
Posted by investmentwatch on May 16, 2008
Since 1982, International Women’s Day for Disarmament has been marked on 24 May by women around the world calling for the peaceful resolution of conflict, and an end to the horror and devastation of armed conflict; the destruction of the physical environment by peacetime military training and weapons testing; the diversion of financial, human and other resources into military institutions; and to government support for corporations that profit from death and destruction. This year in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is focusing on the NZ Superannuation Fund (Super Fund) investments in nuclear weapons and cluster munitions producing companies.
There are three sections below: 1) details of the simultaneous protests at the Super Fund offices in Auckland and Wellington on Friday, 23 May; 2) the ‘End government support for military exports’ petition which has just been re-launched for International Women’s Day for Disarmament; and 3) some links to where you can get more information about the Super Fund investments, and about women and disarmament. This message will be available online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/iwdd08.htm later today.
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Media Release: Aucklanders part of global action against Cluster Bombs: Friday
Posted by investmentwatch on April 22, 2008
Investment Watch Aotearoa New Zealand (IWANZ)
Box 68-419,
Auckland
17 April 2008
Media Release: Aucklanders part of global action against Cluster Bombs: Friday
Aucklanders concerned over the investment of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund in cluster bombs will take to the street outside the Fund’s Auckland offices, AMP Building, Customs Street West at 5pm on Friday, April 18. The action is on the eve of the April 19 “Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs” which takes place 1 month before the international Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions begins.
The New Zealand Superannuation Fund, set up by the Government to fund retirement pensions currently has investments in at least five corporations involved in the manufacture of cluster munitions. Read the rest of this entry »
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Photos/Report: Friday action at Auckland Super Fund
Posted by investmentwatch on April 22, 2008
Watch this space for future actions to build the campaign for ethical state investment. (More Photos Below) Read the rest of this entry »
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Act now: NZ Superannuation Fund investments in death and destruction
Posted by investmentwatch on April 16, 2008
Act now: NZ Superannuation Fund investments in death and destruction
This update follows the NZ Superannuation Fund’s announcement earlier this month that it intends to divest from companies involved in the production of cluster munitions. It revises and expands the information provided in ‘Investing in whose future? NZ Super Fund investments in cluster munitions and nuclear weapons production’ [1] , the February 2008 No WARP! (Network Opposed to Weapons and Related Production) action alert and leaflet.
There are six sections in this update, providing information about:
1) The Superannuation Fund;
2) Investments in companies involved in cluster munitions production, and some comment on the recent announcement;
3) Investments in companies involved in nuclear weapons production;
4) Investments in companies involved in human rights violations;
5) What you can do about this - including details of the protests in Auckland and Wellington on Friday, 18 April; and points you could include in letters to the relevant politicians and Super Fund officials, as well as contact details for them; and
6) Where you can get more information.
This publication is available online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nwapr08.pdf (formatted, printable version) Read the rest of this entry »
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Oxfam/IHRC Letter to Cullen on Superfund Investments
Posted by investmentwatch on March 13, 2008
Hon. Michael Cullen
Minister of Finance
Parliament
Wellington 26th February 2008
Dear Minister
We are writing to express our concern over the investment holdings of the Superannuation Fund, specifically its investment in manufacturers of cluster munitions. Our concerns are shared by members of the public.
On 21 February 2008, Oxfam New Zealand hosted a breakfast event at Auckland Museum that featured presentations by Ms. Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate and Ms. Eileen Kolma, Oxfam PNG Country representative. Ms, Williams explained how cluster munitions leave a devastating post-conflict legacy. We heard how the New Zealand government is playing a leading role in building support for an international ban on cluster bombs with active non-governmental support provided by Oxfam New Zealand and other members of the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition. We warmly welcome the government’s role in seeking an international ban on cluster munitions and offer our congratulations on a highly successful Wellington conference.
In the discussion that followed the breakfast presentations, the audience was surprised to hear that the New Zealand Superannuation Fund invests in at least five companies which produce cluster munitions, even though a number of other pension funds have divested from shares in such companies. A member of the audience asked for a show of hands to indicate those that want New Zealand to divest from cluster bomb production. There was support from most, if not all amongst the 230-strong audience.
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Superfund Cluster Munitions Investments under Fire
Posted by investmentwatch on March 13, 2008
In recent months, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund has come under scrutiny for their investments in Cluster Munitions at the same time as the New Zealand government is leading negotiations on a draft international treaty banning the use of the weapons in Wellington.
No WARP! (Network Opposed to Weapons and Related Production) released a leaflet during the Cluster Munitions conference, Investing in whose future? NZ Super Fund investments in cluster munitions and nuclear weapons production . And after the Disarmament and Arms Control Minister Phil Goff said that he thought the Superfund had divested from Cluster Munitions, the Green Party issued the following media release, Minister gets it wrong on cluster bomb investments.
Links:
The Aotearoa/New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition is a group of New Zealand non-governmental organizations that supports the international call to stop cluster munitions from harming civilians.
Handicap International helps disabled people make a positive difference to their lives. We work in many countries affected by landmines and cluster munitions. Every day our teams meet cluster bomb survivors; the ‘lucky’ ones who have not been killed outright.
The only permanent solution to the effects of cluster bombs is a global ban on the use, production and stockpiling of cluster munitions. To achieve this, Handicap International informs the general public on the effects of cluster bombs through events such as the Pyramid of Shoes. Our organisation also campaigns with governments that still allow the use or production of cluster bombs.
Netwerk Vlaanderen promotes an environmentally and socially responsible approach to money. Netwerk gives advice on sustainable saving and investment products. And Netwerk has been running the campaign “My Money. Clear Conscience?” to show banks where their responsibilities are around human rights abuses.
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WALHI report on Freeport-Rio Tinto
Posted by investmentwatch on September 7, 2007
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report presents a new and independent picture of the environmental impacts of the Freeport mine, a Freeport McMoRan and Rio Tinto joint venture, which although one of the largest mines in the world, operates under a shroud of secrecy in remote Papua province.
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