Is the Productivity Commission in breach of international law by its support for Israel lobby Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce? Michael West reports.
Chair of Australia’s Productivity Commission, Danielle Wood, has declined to respond to questions about her agency’s support for Israel lobby group Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC).
According to lawyers contacted by MWM, Ms Wood and the PC may be in breach of the Commission’s own policy guidelines which state “In the performance of its functions, the Commission must have regard to the need … for Australia to meeting its international obligations and commitments”.
Ms Wood, a respected Australian economist, is due to present before the AICC on February 13, 2025.
AICC flyer featuring Danielle Wood
As reported by MWM last month, the AICC, has been funded by companies such as Elbit Systems whose weapons have been used in human rights abuses in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
Further, the investigation found that AICC associate IACC had been involved in funding illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Investigation: elite Australian big business group monetises Israeli war machine
Legal opinion obtained by MWM questioned whether Mr Wood’s association with the AICC would “be publicly seen as supporting and or tacitly endorsing or otherwise ignoring the many egregious alleged violations of international law and Australia’s international legal obligations as well as the PC’s own legislative/statutory policy guidelines (namely subsection 8(1)(j) of the PC Act), and thus showing public support for, promoting and thereby enriching (via non-member ticket sales/ promoting membership purchases, and general notoriety as a powerful business lobby) for the AICC”.
Money raised by the AICC because of the Wood presentation “may well end up funding violations of international law whether directly or indirectly”.
The opinion cites Israeli companies involved in the “perpetration of war crimes, atrocities and what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declared to be a “plausible” genocide in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories such as Elbit Systems.
“The Australian government has a positive legal duty to prevent and punish genocide, including investigating and prosecuting persons suspected of being involved in genocide and atrocity crimes at both international law (the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute)) and at domestic law, namely Division 268 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code (as contained in the Schedule to the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth)).”
According to the advice Ms Wood’s “mandatory statutory responsibilities as provided by section 8(1)(j) of the PC Act, as Chair of a statutory body appointed by the Governor-General”, the chair and directors are agents and representatives of the Australian Government.
“Australia has numerous binding obligations at international including with regards to international human rights law, various UN treaties and conventions it has ratified (including by enshrining those obligations in Australian domestic law).
Where it can be proved that the AICC (and its associated entity, the IACC) are involved in various violations of international law in the OPT, arguably, by appearing at the upcoming AICC event on February 13, 2025, Ms Wood would be publicly seen as supporting and or tacitly endorsing or otherwise ignoring the many egregious alleged violations of international law and Australia’s international legal obligations as well as her own legislative/statutory policy guidelines (namely subsection 8(1)(j) of the PC Act), and thus showing public support for, promoting and thereby enriching (via non-member ticket sales/ promoting membership purchases, and general notoriety as a powerful business lobby) for the AICC.
MWM twice approached the PC for comment for this story but there was no response.
Elbit: how Australia helped finance the IDF killing of Zomi Frankcom and the slaughter in Gaza
This post was originally published on Michael West.