Category: Business

  • COMMENTARY: By Gavin Ellis

    New Zealand-based Canadian billionaire James Grenon owes the people of this country an immediate explanation of his intentions regarding media conglomerate NZME. This cannot wait until a shareholders’ meeting at the end of April.

    Is his investment in the owner of The New Zealand Herald and NewstalkZB nothing more than a money-making venture to realise the value of its real estate marketing subsidiary? Has he no more interest than putting his share of the proceeds from spinning off OneRoof into a concealed safe in his $15 million Takapuna mansion?

    Or does he intent to leverage his 9.6 percent holding and the support of other investors to take over the board (if not the company) in order to dictate the editorial direction of the country’s largest newspaper and its number one commercial radio station?

    Grenon has said little beyond the barest of announcements that have been released by the New Zealand Stock Exchange. While he must exercise care to avoid triggering statutory takeover obligations, he cannot simply treat NZME as another of the private equity projects that have made him very wealthy. He is dealing with an entity whose influence and obligations extend far beyond the crude world of finance.

    While I do not presume for one moment that he reads this column each week, let me suspend disbelief for a moment and speak directly to him.

    Come clean and tell the people of New Zealand what you are doing and, more importantly, why.

    Over the past week there has been considerable speculation over the answers to those questions. Much of it has drawn on what little we know of James Grenon. And it is precious little beyond two facts.

    Backed right-wing Centrist
    The first is that he put money behind the launch of a right-wing New Zealand news aggregation website, The Centrist, although he apparently no longer has a financial interest in it.

    The second fact is that he provided financial support for conservative activists taking legal action against New Zealand media.

    When I contacted a well-connected friend in Canada to ask about Grenon the response was short: “Never heard of him . . . and there aren’t that many Canadian billionaires.”

    In short, the man who potentially may hold sway over the board of one of our biggest media companies has a very low profile indeed. That is a luxury to which he can no longer lay claim.

    It may be that his interest is, after all, a financial one based on his undoubted investment skills. He may see a lucrative opportunity in OneRoof. After all, Fairfax’s public listing and subsequent sale of its Australian equivalent, Domain, provided not only a useful cash boost for shareholders but the creation of a stand-alone entity that now has a market cap of about $A2.8 billion.

    Perhaps he wants a board cleanout to guarantee a OneRoof float.

    If so, say so.

    Similar transactions
    Although spinning off OneRoof could have dire consequences for the viability of what would be left of NZME, that is a decision no different to similar transactions made by many companies in the financial interests of shareholders.

    There is a world of difference, however, between seizing an investment opportunity and seeking to secure influence by dictating the editorial direction of a significant portion of our news media.

    If the speculation is correct — and the billionaire is seeking to steer NZME on an editorial course to the right — New Zealand has a problem.

    Communications minister Paul Goldsmith gave a lamely neoliberal response reported by Stuff last week: He was “happy to take some advice” on the development, but NZME was a “private company” and ultimately it was up to its shareholders to determine how it operated.

    Let me repeat my earlier point: NZME is an entity whose influence and obligations extend far beyond the crude world of finance (and the outworn concept that the market can rule). Its stewardship of the vehicles at the forefront of news dissemination and opinion formation means it must meet higher obligation than what we expect of an ordinary “private company”.

    The most fundamental of those obligations is the independence of editorial decision-making and direction.

    I became editor of The New Zealand Herald shortly after Wilson & Horton was sold to Irish businessman Tony O’Reilly. On my appointment the then chief executive of O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media, Liam Healy, said the board had only one editorial requirement of me: That I would not advocate the use of violence as a legitimate means to a political end.

    Only direction echoed Mandela
    Coming from a man who had witnessed the effects of such violence in Northern Ireland, I had no difficulty in acceding to his request. And throughout my entire editorship, the only “request” made of me by O’Reilly himself was that I would support the distribution of generic Aids drugs in Africa. It followed a meeting he had had with Nelson Mandela. I had no other direction from the board.

    Yes, I had to bat away requests by management personnel (who should have known better) to “do this” or “not do that” but, without exception, the attempts were commercially driven — they did not want to upset advertisers. There was never a political or ideological motive behind them. Nor were such requests limited to me.

    I doubt there is an editor in the country who has not had a manager asking for something to please an advertiser. Disappointment hasn’t deterred their trying.

    In this column last week, I wrote of the dangers of a rich owner (in that case Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos) dictating editorial policy. The dangers if James Grenon has similar intentions would be even greater, given NZME’s share of the news market.

    The journalists’ union, E tu, has already concluded that the Canadian’s intention is to gain right-wing influence. Its director, Michael Wood, issued a statement in which he said: “The idea that a shadowy cabal, backed by extreme wealth, is planning to take over such an important institution in our democratic fabric should be of concern to all New Zealanders.”

    He called on the current NZME board to re-affirm a commitment to editorial independence.

    Michael Wood reflects the fears that are rightly held by NZME’s journalists. They, too, will doubtless be looking for assurances of editorial independence.

    ‘Cast-iron’ guarantees?
    Such assurances are vital, but those journalists should look back to some “cast-iron” guarantees given by other rich new owners if they are to avoid history repeating itself.

    I investigated such guarantees in a book I wrote titled Trust Ownership and the Future of News: Media Moguls and White Knights. In it I noted that 20 years before Rupert Murdoch purchased The Times of London, there was a warning that the newspaper’s editor “far from having his independence guaranteed, is on paper entirely in the hands of the Chief Proprietors who are specifically empowered by the Articles of Association to control editorial policy”, although there was provision for a “committee of notables” to veto the transfer of shares into undesirable hands.

    To satisfy the British government, Murdoch gave guarantees of editorial independence and a “court of appeal” role for independent directors. Neither proved worth the paper they were written on.

    In contrast, the constitution of the company that owns The Economist does not permit any individual or organisation to gain a majority shareholding. The editor exercises independent editorial control and is appointed by trustees, who are independent of commercial, political and proprietorial influences.

    There are no such protections in the constitution, board charter, or code of conduct and ethics governing NZME. And it is doubtful that any cast-iron guarantees could be inserted in advance of the company’s annual general meeting.

    If James Grenon does, in fact, have designs on the editorial direction of NZME, it is difficult to see how he might be prevented from achieving his aim.

    Statutory guarantees would be unprecedented and, in any case, sit well outside the mindset of a coalition government that has shown no inclination to intervene in a deteriorating media market. Nonetheless, Minister Goldsmith would be well advised to address the issue with a good deal more urgency.

    He might, at the very least, press the Canadian billionaire on his intentions.

    And if the coalition thinks a swing to the right in our news media would be no bad thing, it should be very careful what it wishes for.

    If the Canadian’s intentions are as Michael Wood suspects, perhaps the only hope will lie with those shareholders who see that it will be in their own financial interests to ensure that, in aggregate, NZME’s news assets continue to steer a (relatively) middle course. For proof, they need look only at the declining subscriber base of The Washington Post.

    Postscipt
    On Wednesday, The New Zealand Herald stated James Grenon had provided further detail, of his intentions. It is clear that he does, in fact, intend to play a role in the editorial side of NZME.

    Just how hands-on he would be remains to be seen. However, he told the Herald that, if successful in making it on to the NZME board, he expected an editorial board would be established “with representation from both sides of the spectrum”.

    On the surface that looks reassuring but editorial boards elsewhere have also been used to serve the ends of a proprietor while giving the appearance of independence.

    And just what role would an editorial board play? Would it determine the editorial direction that an editor would have to slavishly follow? Or would it be a shield protecting the editor’s independence?

    Only time will tell.

    Devil in the detail
    Media Insider columnist Shayne Currie, writing in the Weekend Herald, stated that “the Herald’s dominance has come through once again in quarterly Nielsen readership results . . . ” That is perfectly true: The newspaper’s average issue readership is more than four times that of its closest competitor.

    What the Insider did not say was that the Herald’s readership had declined by 32,000 over the past year — from 531,000 to 499,000 — and by 14,000 since the last quarterly survey.

    The Waikato Times, The Post and the Otago Daily Times were relatively stable while The Press was down 11,000 year-on-year but only 1000 since the last survey.

    In the weekend market, the Sunday Star Times was down 1000 readers year-on-year to stand at 180,000 and up slightly on the last survey. The Herald on Sunday was down 6000 year-on-year to sit at 302,000.

    There was a little good news in the weekly magazine market. The New Zealand Listener has gained 5000 readers year-on-year and now has a readership of 207,000. In the monthly market, Mindfood increased its readership by 15,000 over the same period and now sits at 222,000.

    The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly continues to dominate the women’s magazine market. It was slightly up on the last survey but well down year-on-year, dropping from 458,000 to 408,000. Woman’s Day had an even greater annual decline, falling from 380,000 to 317,000.

    Dr Gavin Ellis holds a PhD in political studies. He is a media consultant and researcher. A former editor-in-chief of The New Zealand Herald, he has a background in journalism and communications — covering both editorial and management roles — that spans more than half a century. This article was published first on his Knightly Views website on 11 March 2025 and is republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • A Canadian mining company behind a massive new lithium mine in northern Nevada has received a $250 million investment to complete construction of the new mine — a project that aims to accelerate America’s shift from fossil fuel-powered cars but that has come under fierce criticism from neighboring tribal nations and watchdog groups for its proximity to a burial site.

    Lithium Americas is developing the mine in an area known as Thacker Pass where it plans to unearth lithium carbonate that can be used to make batteries for electric vehicles. The area, known as Peehee Mu’huh in the Numu language of the Northern Paiute, is home to what could be the largest supply of lithium in the United States and is also a site that tribal citizens visit every year to honor dozens of Native men, women, and children who fled American soldiers in an 1865 unprovoked attack at dawn. 

    The funding from Orion Resources Partners LP, a global investment firm specializing in metals and materials, will enable the first phase of construction to be completed by late 2027. The investment firm is also considering giving an additional $500 million to support later phases of the mine’s development. 

    The critical financial investment comes just weeks after a report from the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch called for a halt to the construction of the mine after concluding its approval violates the rights of Indigenous peoples whose ancestors are buried there. 

    “Orion’s commitment to this project highlights the strategic importance of Thacker Pass to national security and developing a domestic supply chain as we work to reduce American dependence on foreign suppliers for critical minerals,” said Jonathan Evans, Lithium Americas’ president and chief executive officer, in a press release.

    Lithium Americas said that research indicates the actual burial site is located several miles away from the project site, and a federal judge agreed with the company, citing a cultural inventory study that did not uncover any human remains. Gary McKinney disagrees. He is a spokesperson for the group People of Red Mountain and is a descendant of one of the survivors of the September 12, 1865, massacre.

    He and many others believe the project area to be a graveyard for his ancestors, in part due to Indigenous oral histories and a 1929 autobiography describing the massacre there. 

    “What that mine is doing is desecrating,” McKinney said. “They’re erasing parts of the history of the Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone people.” 

    He said the mine was approved during the COVID-19 pandemic when reservations were shut down, Indigenous communities were grappling with high rates of the virus, and few realized the project was moving forward. 

    “Our tribal chairman at that time, he died of COVID,” said McKinney, who is an enrolled member of the Duck Valley Shoshone Paiute Tribe. “What I’m saying is this whole thing wasn’t done with the best of morals or intentions of honoring and respecting those cultural sites.” 

    His organization, People of Red Mountain, sued to stop the mine along with four tribes — Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Burns Paiute Tribe, Summit Lake Paiute Tribe, and Winnemucca Indian Colony — but no court challenges have been successful. The Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribe also criticized the mine in an appeal to the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples.

    The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch report from last month concluded the mine violates Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior and informed consent to projects that affect their territories. The report notes tribes have raised concerns about the risk of toxic waste from the mine polluting their water and about their cultural practices being curtailed by limited access to the area.

    In a letter to Human Rights Watch, Tim Crowley, vice president of government and external affairs at Lithium Americas, emphasized that the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which contains the right to free, prior, and informed consent, is not binding. At the same time, the U.S. government believes consulting with tribes is sufficient without achieving support from all tribes, he said. 

    “Further, the Treaty of Ruby Valley, which is the treaty that pertains to Western Shoshone peoples in the Thacker Pass area, does not reserve rights to access off-reservation public land,” Crowley wrote. “The Thacker Pass Project is not in a federally recognized Native American territory. If it were, mining could not happen without the express consent and approval of that tribe.”

    The new investment in Lithium Americas from Orion Resources Partners LP helps fulfill the terms of a $2.26 billion loan that Lithium Americas received last fall from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the project. 

    Abbey Koenning-Rutherford from the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch said the Thacker Pass mine is symbolic of the broader risks of mining to Indigenous peoples and underscores why there’s a need to reform a 1872 U.S. mining law that enables companies to claim mineral rights on federal lands, including land stolen from tribal nations.

    “The United States should respect Indigenous peoples’ centuries-long connections to Peehee Mu’huh and act to prevent further harm at Thacker Pass,” Koenning-Rutherford said.

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline A $250M investment will help this lithium mine get up and running. That’s bad news for these tribes. on Mar 13, 2025.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • Meati Foods, a Colorado-based company known for its plant-based meat alternatives, is facing a major financial crisis after its lender unexpectedly pulled funding. As a result, the company has warned state officials that it may have to shut down its manufacturing facility in Thornton, CO and lay off 150 employees by May 6, 2025, unless it can secure new financing. ​

    The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice details that the lender “unexpectedly removed cash from our accounts and took control of remaining cash reserves on Friday, February 28, and the action was not reasonably foreseeable.” Consequently, Meati Foods stated, “Based on this action, we do not have sufficient funding to continue operating.”

    VegNews.MeatiMeati Foods

    Despite this alarming development, sources familiar with the situation say Meati Foods continues to operate, with production at the Thornton, CO facility still ongoing. The company is actively seeking new financing to avert the planned layoffs and maintain operations. The lender’s actions were reportedly triggered by Meati’s failure to meet specific revenue and margin targets, despite the company nearly doubling its revenue in the previous year and expanding distribution by 130 percent. ​

    Industry veterans bet big on Meati

    Meati Foods, co-founded by Tyler Huggins and Justin Whiteley, has been at the forefront of utilizing mycelium—the root structure of fungi—as a protein source for its meat-alternative products. The company gained significant attention for its innovative approach, leading to substantial investments, including a $150 million Series C funding round in mid-2022.This funding was intended to support the construction of a large-scale production facility, dubbed the “mega ranch,” in Thornton, CO. ​

    The Series C funding round attracted notable investors such as Revolution Growth and Cultivate Next, a fund owned by Chipotle Mexican Grill, along with Grosvenor Food & AgTech. Prior investors included Acre Venture Partners, Congruent Ventures, Tao Capital, Prelude Ventures, and Bond Capital. The company has raised more than $450 million over 11 funding rounds, according to Tracxn.

    VegNews.MeatiChicken2.MeatiMeati Foods

    In early 2024, Phil Graves, formerly of Patagonia, was appointed CEO, succeeding co-founder Tyler Huggins, who transitioned to the role of Chief Innovation Officer. Under Graves’ leadership, Meati Foods aimed to achieve positive gross margins by the end of 2024, focusing on expanding distribution and product innovation. The company launched new products, including mycelium-based breakfast patties, and secured placements in major retailers such as Sprouts Farmers Market, Raley’s, and Harris Teeter, reaching approximately 7,000 stores nationwide. ​

    Meati’s celebrity backers

    Meati Foods’ rapid ascent in the alternative protein market was marked by strategic partnerships and media buzz. Support from celebrities and athletes including Rachael Ray, Derek Jeter, David Chang, Aly Raisman, and Chris Paul elevated its market position. Jeter, an MLB Hall of Famer, joined Meati Foods as an investor and advisor in June 2023. Jeter emphasized the company’s commitment to nutrition, sustainability, and taste, stating, “When it came to considering an investment in this industry, I had three main priorities in evaluating the food: nutrition, sustainability, and taste,” he said at the time.

    “Meati certainly delivers, with great quality steaks and cutlets and an institutional emphasis on high nutritional value and sustainable practices. As we look to the future, the choices we make and the impact we leave are critical, and I appreciate the way Meati has dedicated efforts to making a real difference,” he continued.

    The company’s products garnered attention for their nutritional benefits and sustainability as a whole cut alternative to many ultra-processed plant-based meat alternatives. The company’s innovative approach and product quality led to accolades, including in the Best Lunch & Dinner category in the 2025 Men’s Health Food Awards for its Crispy Cutlets.

    In July 2023, Meati partnered with Dot Foods, North America’s largest food industry redistributor, to expand its reach across all 50 states. This move was a significant step toward Meati’s goal of becoming the market leader in meat alternatives by 2025. Despite these achievements, the recent financial turmoil underscores the volatility and challenges within the alternative protein industry.

    This post was originally published on VegNews.com.

  • eye-testing

    With Medicare shaping up as a key election issue, we examine optometry retailing and how your friendly optometrist is incentivised to put glasses on your nose. Zach Szumer reports.

    Have you ever walked into an outlet like OPSM, Specsavers, Bailey Nelson, or Laubman & Pank for an eye test and left feeling like you’d been gently pressured into spending $500 on a pair of glasses?

    Well, firstly – you probably shouldn’t be too surprised. You did, after all, go to a retail outlet. Still, you might be wondering why the places Australians so often go for their eye tests – often paid for through Medicare – are the same places that want to sell you eye-wateringly expensive products.

    I mean, why don’t we also have podiatrists at Foot Locker? Or dermatologists at Aesop?

    Your correspondent has recently been granted a glimpse into this highly commercialised corner of healthcare, in which bosses impose onto optometrists a variety of targets – whether its “converting” eye tests into sales or increasing rates of certain types of tests.

    This type of pressure is reportedly causing many optometrists “significant moral distress” and some are starting to fight back.

    “Failure to improve” punished

    MWM has seen an email sent from a state director for both OPSM and Laubman & Pank, reminding optometrists that “individual optometry performance goals across the state are: conversion: 50 percent, eyecare $70 and UWDRS: 35 percent.”

    “Conversion” means the rate at which an eye test is converted into a sale of glasses and “eyecare” is the average fee for an eye test. “UWDRS” stands for ultrawide digital retinal scan – a type of test that Medicare doesn’t pay for – and is thus more profitable for the company.

    Medicare Mystery unravelled. No ‘free-fall’ in bulk billing

    The email from the state manager goes on: 

    “Please take immediate action to improve conversion over the coming weeks”.

    Failure to improve your individual KPIs to an acceptable level will lead to reduction or discontinuation of future bookings.

    OPSM and Laubman & Pank are both owned by the international optical retail giant Luxottica, which also owns Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, Oakley and Vogue Eyewear, and Oliver Peoples – among approx. 150 other eyewear brands. 

    MWM reached out to ask if OPSM and Laubman & Pank believe that such performance targets and the threat of punitive action have any negative effect on the delivery of quality health care. 

    We received no reply.

    “They’ll give you a talk”

    MWM has also seen screenshots from what an optometrist said was an official Specsavers document in which optometrists are told they must “consistently achieve a 60-65% plus conversion rate.” We were told that the screenshot referencing the conversion rate was from several years ago.

    A Specsavers spokesperson acknowledged the company “measures all elements of clinical care and customer service, of which conversion is one, to ensure there is an unrelenting focus on enhancing patient experiences and visual outcomes.”

    “The Specsavers brand, however, does not mandate conversion rates or sales targets for our professionals.”

    Specsavers has a joint venture partnership (JVP) model, which means that outlets are part-owned and managed by franchise owners.

    MWM has sighted recent communication by one optometrist who said Specsavers does still have conversion targets – “but it really depends on the directors” of these JVPs. If your numbers are really bad, they’ll give you a talk,” the optometrist wrote.

    In another screenshot – sent by a person MWM was told was likely a franchise director –  optometrists are informed that the stores just

    couldn’t afford” for people to come in for a vision test and then leave the store without making a purchase.

    (To protect the optometrist’s privacy, MWM has chosen not to quote the entire message.)

    Specsavers would only tell MWM that this message wasn’t sent from corporate HQ. They didn’t clarify whether the company put any pressure on joint venture partners by, for instance, offering bonuses to stores that met budgets, which would directly lead to JVPs imposing such targets themselves.

    Ramping up rebates

    MWM was also supplied with screenshots sent by Bailey Nelson state clinical leads and eyecare directors in which optometrists’ Medicare claiming patterns are compared with company averages.

    In these emails, optometrists are praised for above-average billing of certain Medicare items, recommended to look for other billing “opportunities”, and given advice to reduce billing items that can only be claimed every three years.

    One optometrist who fell below average was reminded that “there may be missed opportunities” to make certain Medicare claims and is asked to “please really look for these new signs/symptoms… or progressive disease opportunities where possible.”

    The email explicitly states that one of the reasons for doing this is to raise “clinical revenue”.

    Biggest investment in Medicare in more than 40 years

    One optometrist told MWM this type of pressure was leading optometrists to make invalid Medicare claims, referring to it as “corporate optometry rorting Medicare”.

    He said he had made multiple reports to the Medicare Integrity Taskforce that patients are, without valid clinical basis, being pushed to undergo tests that attract certain Medicare rebates. He said he has seen no evidence these claims have yet been investigated by the taskforce.

    A Bailey Nelson spokesperson told MWM that the company was “committed to delivering high-quality eye care while ensuring our optometrists practice with integrity and in full compliance with regulatory requirements.”

    “We have established Medicare guidelines to ensure our optometry team is fully aware of their rights and obligations when it comes to Medicare billing and claims. Additionally, we work closely with a Medicare consultant to support our optometrists in maintaining compliance with all claiming requirements.”

    “We take compliance seriously and have measures in place to educate and support our optometrists in making clinically appropriate decisions.”

    Significant moral distress

    In February, industry peak body Optometry Australia (OA) – released a position statement on KPIs – Key Performance Indicators for those not used to corporate jargon.

    It said “KPIs that incentivise optometrists to breach the Code or relevant laws, whether directly or indirectly, should not be used”.”

    In a statement recently given to MWM, OA CEO Skye Cappuccio said “many (optometrists) feel highly pressured in their workplace and revenue-driven targets are a central part of creating that pressure.” However, she also pointed MWM to the preliminary results from a study currently being conducted at Flinders University, partly funded by the group.

    The anonymous survey found that “over 75 percent of optometrists agreed or strongly agreed that they were able to provide high quality patient care, aligned with current evidence-based practice and responsive to the individual needs of their patients.”

    Optometrist workforce survey

    Flinders University Optometrist workforce survey

    However, it also noted

    there is significant moral distress among optometrists at work, e.g. KPIs causing role conflicts.

    OA told MWM it had sent the survey results to many large retail optometrist employers. “We are calling on them to work with us to realise change, now,” Cappuccio said.

    Some optometrists feel that OA – which represents both employers and employees – has insufficiently protected their interests and they’ve launched a unionisation drive. Some of these optometrists have also set up a Facebook group that has around 1,600 members.

    Presuming all members are registered optometrists, that’s over 20 percent of the industry in Australia.

    The admins of this group conducted their own internal survey, which received over 150 responses, many of which mention KPIs:

    Optometrist survey

    Making money

    MWM asked OA if it was aware of any other area of healthcare provision in which qualified practitioners are required to meet targets and KPIs like those mentioned above, and were told “KPIs are commonly used across healthcare settings and various industries to evaluate professional performance.”

    We put the same question to various experts. Dr Karinna Saxby, a research Fellow Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, said some hospitals implemented KPIs to access “performance-funding payments”. She continued:

    This can lead to too much emphasis placed on attaining (or even manipulating) ‘target numbers’, and too little on actual quality of patient care.

    However, in reference to retail optometry, she said “Broadly speaking, this seems more like a case of supplier induced demand; the optometrist owners get money from hitting targets – just more about making money.”

    Editors note: Are you an optometrist, optometry outlet staff member or any other kind of relevant birdie who has a little tune to whistle in our ear? Please email us in confidence.

    Bupa, Medibank give massage therapists an unhappy ending 

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • This story is published in partnership with The Examination, a news organization that investigates global health threats. Sign up to subscribe to The Examination’s newsletter.

    Say you’re an American worker with a retirement plan. Out of concern for the planet — or how wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes might affect your portfolio — you want the company managing your money to consider the environment in deciding where to invest.

    If one of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet secretaries gets his way, you might not have much choice. 

    Chris Wright, recently confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Energy, has been aiming to dismantle a U.S. Department of Labor rule that governs 401(k)s and other private retirement plans for more than 150 million people. The regulation allows asset managers to weigh environmental, social, and governance — or ESG — factors as long as they financially benefit retirees. 

    Wright was CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy in 2023 when the company and about two dozen states sued the agency to overturn the rule. Liberty’s case was dismissed in February by a federal judge in Texas, but the battle over ESG finance may be just beginning.  

    The fossil fuel industry and its allies have launched a multipronged assault against sustainable investing, suing asset managers and pension funds and federal regulatory agencies that oversee them. ESG investing can illegally put political ideology over the financial interests of retirees, they argue in lawsuits. The conservative policy guide Project 2025 has called for the Trump administration to overturn current rules and prohibit ESG for most retirement plans. 

    With roughly $14 trillion held in private retirement funds alone, their approach to investing has high stakes not only for individual retirees but also for the oil and gas industries. 

    In January, an investigation by The Examination found the fossil fuel industry taking advantage of sustainable finance. More than $286 billion in a lax form of green finance called sustainability-linked loans were made to companies in polluting industries — from oil and gas to mining and timber — the investigation, published in partnership with Mississippi Today and the Toronto Star, revealed. This money was often counted by banks toward their sustainable investing targets, even though in some cases companies expanded polluting activities and increased their carbon emissions while they benefited from the loans.

    But in the months since Trump’s election, fear of political fallout and legal attacks on sustainable investing have prompted many financial institutions to abandon ESG goals altogether.

    In January, Texas federal judge Reed O’Connor ruled against American Airlines in a case alleging that the airline’s 401(k) investments with BlackRock violated its duty to retirees because BlackRock considered ESG criteria in its investments and American failed to keep its own corporate interests separate from its obligations to retirement investors. Around the same time, BlackRock dropped out of the Net Zero Asset Managers, an industry group dedicated to achieving net-zero carbon emissions.

    BlackRock joined an array of leading U.S. and Canadian banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs, that recently withdrew from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. In a video appearance on February 17, Wright denounced net-zero targets as “sinister” and said they are being used to “shrink human freedom.” 

    Lisa Sachs, director of the Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia University, said efforts to ban ESG policies seek to help the fossil fuel industry at the expense of retirees. Prohibiting ESG factors from retirement plans would put blinders on asset managers, she said, forcing them to ignore real financial risks, such as floods affecting real estate value. This would undermine their ability to make safe long-term investments for pensioners, she said.

    “This is the exact opposite of free-market ideology,” Sachs said.

    ESG faces political backlash

    Much of the legal dispute revolves around how ESG investing is defined — and experts agree the term is vague and easily manipulated.

    An ESG investment fund is one that takes environmental and social risks into account in its decision-making, not necessarily one that invests for social purposes, Sachs said. She cites Coca-Cola as a company that has a high ESG rating because assessors have deemed it does a good job managing the environmental and social risks to its business, even though its product contributes to obesity and chronic disease worldwide.

    Financial companies have misrepresented how ESG considerations are most often used, Sachs said, calling the marketing a form of greenwashing. Sachs said it is largely these misrepresentations that have put ESG policies in the crosshairs.

    “The greenwashing is what led to the political backlash,” she said.

    Jonathan Berry, the attorney for Liberty Energy in its suit against the labor department, said Liberty’s challenge doesn’t object to asset managers considering environmental factors when they are financially material. Instead, the company opposes a “tiebreaker” provision in the rule that allows asset managers to weigh non-financial ESG factors when deciding between investments that are economically equal. 

    “It cracks open the door for divided loyalties,” Berry said.

    Berry is also one of the authors of Project 2025, the policy playbook whose proposals have been reflected in many of the Trump administration’s early actions.   

    Among Project 2025’s prescriptions: removing ESG considerations from private retirement plans and a similar plan for federal employees, as well as possible enforcement actions against asset managers that have ESG policies while managing federal retirement plans. 

    But not all conservatives are on board. Some Project 2025 contributors argue in an “alternative view” section that these recommendations go too far and that workers should be able to decide on investments in their retirement plans for themselves.  

    “Even though ESG investing is often not a sound financial strategy, it is not wrong for retirement plans to offer ESG investment options,” the dissenters write.

    Berry agreed that the term ESG is “deliberately elastic.” But he said it often works the other way around: ESG investing is defined as considering environmental risks to get a foot in the door, and then used to push for political goals like divesting from fossil fuels. 

    In 2023, conservative groups sued New York City pension funds that divested from fossil fuels, alleging the funds had breached their duties to retirees; that case was dismissed last year.

    In February, the campaign against ESG suffered another setback.

    Matthew Kacsmaryk, a conservative federal judge in Texas appointed by Trump, dismissed Liberty Energy’s lawsuit seeking to overturn the labor department’s ESG rule. Liberty’s argument that the department cannot apply ESG factors when deciding between financially equal plans, he ruled, would require it to choose based on “arbitrary randomness” instead. 

    The ruling means that if the Trump administration wants to restrict financial options and prohibit ESG considerations from the retirement plans of the majority of American workers, it will likely have to act on its own, through the labor department. 

    Dan Terpstra, a retired supercomputer scientist at the University of Tennessee, has been careful over the years to ensure his retirement funds are not invested in fossil fuels. 

    An active member of the Presbyterian Church and an advocate for sustainable investing, Terpstra worries that a crackdown on ESG policies would be “forcing us away from doing the right thing.”

    The prospect of banning such plans, he said, would be “an erosion of our personal freedoms in service of a vision of America that I barely recognize.”   

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Trump’s energy secretary pushed legal attack on green investing on Mar 4, 2025.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott. Image: ANZ Facebook

    Chief executive Shayne Elliott is plausibly violating the bank’s Ethics Policy and ANZ’s human rights obligations by speaking at the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce business lunch. Michael West reports. 

    When ANZ chief Shayne Elliott addresses Queensland’s business elite at a swanky Brisbane Hotel next week, he may do so with a feeling of unease. It may even cost him some customers.

    Barrister Benedict Coyne has lodged a Human Rights Grievance under the ANZ Human Rights Grievance Mechanism in relation to Elliott’s patronage of the Israel business lobby and says the bank is lending its “imprimatur to endorsing and promoting the business, political and geopolitical interests of the AICC (and by association the Israel Australia Chamber of Commerce) … appears to be in contravention of ANZ Human Rights Statement (May 2022), ANZ Human Rights Statement (November 2021), RESPECTING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES – ANZ’s Approach to Human Rights (September 2012), the ANZ Code of Conduct, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct”.

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    Proceeds from the $2025 a table business lunch go to support Israel, which is accused of plausible genocide in the International Court of Justice, and this week, via its Gaza blockade announcement, stands accused of the starvation of the entire people of Gaza.

    Barrister Benedict Coyne

    Does Elliott support this? The AICC apparently does. This is one of Australia’s premier big business lobbies and its sponsors have included Israeli weapons manufacturers such as Elbit Systems whose weapons were involved in the assassination of Australian Zomi Frankcom and other aid workers.

    Chair of the AICC is Jillian Segal, who is also a vocal supporter of the government of Israel as well as Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

    Last month, it was reported in these pages that the AICC and its associated entity in Israel, the Israeli Australia Chamber of Commerce (IACC) were funding illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian  Territory (OPT) and were associated with Israeli weapons manufacturers involved in war crimes, atrocities and what the International Court of Justice  (ICJ) has declared to be a “plausible” genocide in Gaza.

    The AICC describes itself as “Australia’s pre-eminent international Chamber of Commerce and one of the country’s most prestigious and active national business organisations,” with over 1,000 member companies. 

    Investigation: elite Australian big business group monetises Israeli war machine

    According to the Coyne Human Rights Grievance lodged with ANZ:

    “The AICC’s Israeli associate, the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce (IACC), is chaired by Major General Ido Nehushtan, president of weapons contractor Boeing Israel and a former commander of the Israeli Air Force. 

    “The IACC profile on Guidestar, which is the regulating body for Israeli charities, shows that the organisation is funding Israel’s illegal settlement program. Up to 35% of funds are going to areas which Israel calls the Judea and Samaria region, the Northern  District, and Jerusalem District (also known as ‘Greater Jerusalem’). 

    “Judea and Samaria is Israel’s name for most of its settlements in the West Bank. 

    “While the Northern District includes areas inside Israel’s internationally recognised borders, it also includes the illegally occupied  Syrian Golan Heights.”

    The Chamber is, perhaps with the exception of the Business Council of Australia, this country’s preeminent big business lobby;  holding regular junkets, summits at lunches at ritzy five-star hotel ballrooms where business leaders deliver their speeches before  packed audiences spending thousands of dollars per table. 

    It is the premier networking organisation for Israel in Australia and high-tech is at the vanguard of the lobbying. The ‘Start-Up  Nation’ begins with the Israel Defence Force’s (IDF) intelligence units. 

    The Chamber’s objective is to promote collaboration between the two countries. It describes itself as “Australia’s pre-eminent  international Chamber of Commerce and one of the country’s most prestigious and active national business organisations”, with  over 1,000 member companies. 

    ANZ declined to respond to questions for this story.

    Productivity tsar Danielle Wood ducks for cover on Israel promotion

    This post was originally published on Michael West.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.


  • This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Qantas ageing fleet

    Qantas will unveil fabulous profits at its half-year results today while it continues to prioritise its share price over customers, staff and fleet renewal. Michael Sainsbury reports.

    A Qantas customer recently told this correspondent, “I was in the Qantas First Class Lounge in Los Angeles and ordered a hamburger but was told there were no buns”. It’s an apt reflection of the razzle-dazzle of the airline’s profits which are again enormous but built on the backs of screwing down workers’ wages, illegal out-sourcing, under-investment in its fleet and a decline in its onboard experience.

    The cracks are becoming more evident. Pilots, engineers and other Qantas insiders who spoke to MWM said that management appeared “rudderless”: consumed with “providing band-aid solutions” as the airline tries to sit out a multi-year wait for new aircraft to improve both its performance, product and cost base.

    Qantas pilots strike. The more things change, the more they stay the same

    After previous chief executive Alan Joyce cancelled plans for Boeing 787s in 2018, the company waited another five years to order new aircraft. Only a handful have arrived and most models are running late due to problems at Airbus and Boeing.

    Five of the 29 A220s that have been delivered are suffering from a shortage of trained flight deck crew as well as well-documented engine and other operational problems.

    Ageing aircraft

    Qantas’ domestic and international fleets continue to deteriorate amid growing pressure from Virgin and international rivals with much newer aircraft and a better experience. And as its planes have struggled to stay in the air, with engines being a key problem, Qantas’ capacity has gone backwards. According to the ACCC’s February 2025 report on domestic airline competition in Australia, Qantas experienced a 4.7% decrease in seat capacity compared to December 2019.

    Like cars and people, the older the aircraft, the more maintenance it requires. Qantas’ decision in recent decades to outsource an increasing amount of maintenance work to Los Angeles,Singapore, Bangkok, Manila, Abu Dhabi, and Dresden means that there are often long delays in getting its engines and planes fixed.

    “There’s two ways of sensibly operating aircraft; the first one uses minimum and cheap and nasty maintenance and turns over aircraft fast with the associated leasing costs, etc being high,” a Qantas engineer told MWM.

    “The second one is to amortise your fleet by operating them longer with lower leasing costs but high maintenance costs, which is required to keep those jets flying safely. That’s how Qantas used to operate, aircraft out of Heavy Maintenance were literally as good or better than new since we corrected all fuckups by Boeing.”

    “This approach is very expensive, though, and no airline can afford it anymore due to the flying public expecting lower ticket prices.”

    What Qantas seems to be attempting is to operate very old aircraft with cheap nasty maintenance: basically, combine the two profit maximising strategies.

    “This isn’t going well,” MWM’s source concluded.

    MWM has learned that Qantas’ long haul workhorse fleet of A330 aircraft, which have an average age of 20 years, is in a dire state. As of last Sunday, four of the aircraft were grounded, and several more have recently been out of service for up to two weeks.

    A clear sign of the A330 troubles came earlier this week when Qantas suspended flights between Melbourne and Delhi between June and October 2025, saying the route was temporarily becoming a “seasonal” service. Qantas told travel agents that  the cancellation was “due to some current fleet and operational requirements.”

    Domestic capacity crisis

    Some A330s were recently brought from international routes onto domestic legs to try and bolster capacity because of the growing problems with the ageing 737 fleet. An investigation by MWM showed that on Feb 24, six 737s were grounded, and at least six others were flying only part loads (5 hours or less).

    Domestically, Qantas’ capacity crisis has allowed an airline that controls 63.6% of the market through its Qantas mainline, regional QantasLink and Jetstar to charge higher prices to offset fewer seats.

    The company continues to cut domestic flights, and this week’s ACCC quarterly aviation report confirmed the airline’s capacity squeeze and domestic airfares rose 13.3% between June and September, and “average revenue per passenger spiked in October and November 2024.”

    The state of the Qantas fleet is underscored in the latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport Research Economics show that Virgin has trounced Qantas two months running with cancellation rate of less than 1% of flights against more than 2% for Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar.

    Virgin Australia has outperformed the Qantas Group in recent months, showcasing improved reliability and punctuality across its network.

    The Qantas Group has failed to match Virgin’s performance. In December 2024, Qantas recorded the highest cancellation rate at 2.7%, followed by Jetstar at 1.5%.. The trend continued into January 2025, with Qantas cancelling 2.8% of flights, QantasLink 2.1%, and Jetstar 2.3%.

    On-time performance figures for January 2025 further highlight Virgin’s improvement.

    On-time performance, January 2025

    AirlineOn-time arrivalsOn-time departures
    Qantas Link77.9%78.3%
    Virgin77.1%78.0%
    Qantas72.3%71.6%
    Jetstar69.7%66.8%
    Source: BITRE

    While its grip on the domestic market means that poor fleet management and shrinking capacity actually work in its favour – although not for customers, it’s a different story internationally.

    Qantas has effectively outsourced its European business to codeshare partner Emirates, only flying two flights a day to London. Last year, it added one four times a week from Perth to Paris (QF33), but this has unfolded as a disaster, with passenger loads often below 50%, according to Qantas internal data seen by MWM. QF33 was cancelled on Wednesday.

    Insiders say management is mulling whether the route will either be pulled altogether or handed off to another “wet lease” similar to current Finnair aircraft and crews conducting QF flights between Australia and Singapore/Bangkok. Hudson said to be exploring more wet leases with Finnair to destinations like Japan andHonolulu as her international fleet shrinks and is redeployed.

    The Limping Roo is also being bested on the once lucrative US route by United and Delta which have newer planes, vastly improved cabin service and growing frequency into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – and fewer cancellations.

    QF93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles did not fly Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Lucky passengers would have been flown to Sydney or Brisbane for their flights instead.

    Hawaiian Airlines and Fiji Airways, along with Japanese and Korean airlines, are fiercely competitive in price and service.

    Enter Qatar Airways

    The latest blow to Qantas international business came in On Feb. 14 when the competition regulator handed draft approval to Virgin for its wet lease deal with Qatar Airways. This will see Virgin utilise Qatar’s state-of-the-art aircraft as well as staff and cabin service from an airline rated number one or number two in a range of recent airline surveys. Qantas unsuccessfully lobbied hard against the deal.

    Hudson is at least said to be in the market for more engines for her B737 and A330s. She also has the option to bolster her fleet with younger, more reliable second-hand planes. China Southern Airlines recently put 10 Boeing 787s up for sale. But Hudson knows any such spending would immediately hit its share price – and executive bonuses.

    Hefty profits notwithstanding, this sorry state of affairs for Qantas’ long-suffering passengers is the final crescendo of Alan Joyce’s private equity model.

    Vanessa Hudson has now been in charge for18 months, and right now, her employees see no evidence of any plan to right the listing ship.

    No buns, no engines, and no planes.

    New Qantas chief Vanessa Hudson confronts a turbulent ride from shareholders at AGM

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • COMMENTARY: By Saige England

    Mediawatch on RNZ today strongly criticised Stuff and YouTube among other media for using Israeli propaganda’s “Outbrain” service.

    Outbrain is a company founded by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) military and its technology can be tracked back to a wealthy entrepreneur, which in this case could be a euphemism for a megalomaniac.

    He uses the metaphor of a “dome”, likening it to the dome used in warfare.

    Outbrain, which publishes content on New Zealand media, picks up what’s out there and converts and distorts it to support Israel. It twists, it turns, it deceives the reader.

    Presenter Colin Peacock of RNZ’s Mediawatch programme today advised NZ media to ditch the propaganda service.

    Outbrain uses the media in the following way. The content user such as Stuff pays Outbrain and Outbrain pays the user, like Stuff.

    “Both parties make money when users click on the content,” said Peacock.

    ‘Digital Iron Dome’
    The content on the Stuff website came via “Digital Iron Dome” named after the State of Genociders’ actual defence system. It is run by a tech entrepreneur quoted on Mediawatch:

    “Just like a physical iron dome that scans the open air and watches for any missiles . . . the digital iron dome knows how to scan the internet. We know how to buy media. Pro-Israeli videos and articles and images inside the very same articles going against Israel,” says the developer of the propaganda “dome” machine.

    Peacock said the developer had stated that the digital dome delivered “pro-Jewish”* messages to more than 100 million people worldwide on platforms like Al Jazeera, CNN — and last weekend on Stuff NZ — and said this information went undetected as pro-Israel material, ensuring it reached, according to the entrepreneur: “The right audience without interference.”

    According to Wikipedia, Outbrain was founded by Yaron Galai and Ori Lahav, officers in the Israeli Navy. Galai sold his company Quigo to AOL in 2007 for $363 million. Lahav worked at an online shopping company acquired by eBay in 2005.

    The company is headquartered in New York with global offices in London, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Cologne, Gurugram, Paris, Ljubljana, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Tokyo, São Paulo, Netanya, Singapore, and Sydney.

    Peacock pointed out that other advocacy organisations had already been buying and posting content, there was nothing new about this with New Zealand news media.

    But — and this is important — the Media Council ruled in 2017 that Outbrain content was the publisher’s responsibility: that the news media in NZ were responsible for promoted links that were offered to their readers.

    “Back then publishers at Stuff and the Herald said they would do more to oversee the content, with Stuff stating it is paid promoted content,” said Peacock, in his role as the media watchdog.

    Still ‘big money business’
    “But this is also still a big money business and the outfits using these tools are getting much bigger exposure from their arrangements with news publishers such as Stuff,” he said.

    He pointed out that the recently appointed Outbrain boss for Australia New Zealand and Singapore, Chris Oxley, had described Outbrain as “a leader in digital media connecting advertisers with premium audiences in contextually relevant environments”.

    The watchdog Mediawatch said that news organisations should drop Outbrain.

    “Media environments where news and neutrality are important aren’t really relevant environments for political propaganda that’s propagated by online opportunists who know how to make money out of it and also to raise funds while they are at it, ” said Peacock.

    “These services like Outbrain are sometimes called ‘recommendation engines’ but our recommendation to news media is don’t use them for the sake of the trust of the people you say you want to earn and keep: the readers,” said Peacock.

    Saige England is a journalist and author, and member of the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA).

    * Being “pro-Jewish” should not be equated with being pro-genocide nor should antisemitism be levelled at Jews who are against this genocide. The propaganda from Outbrain does a disservice to Palestinians and also to those Jewish people who support all human rights — the right of Palestinians to life and the right to live on their land.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga

    China has confirmed details of its meeting with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown for the first time, saying Beijing “stands ready to have an in-depth exchange” with the island nation.

    Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters during his regular press conference that Brown’s itinerary, from February 10-16, would include attending the closing ceremony of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin as well as meeting with Premier of the State Council Li Qiang.

    Guo also confirmed that Brown and his delegation had visited Shanghai and Shandong as part of the state visit.

    “The Cook Islands is China’s cooperation partner in the South Pacific,” he said.

    “Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have respected each other, treated each other as equals, and sought common development.”

    Guo told reporters that the relationship between the two countries was elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership in 2018.

    “Our friendly cooperation is rooted in profound public support and delivers tangibly to the two peoples.

    ‘New progress in bilateral relations’
    “Through Prime Minister Brown’s visit, China stands ready to have an in-depth exchange of views with the Cook Islands on our relations and work for new progress in bilateral relations.”

    Brown said on Wednesday that he was aware of the strong interest in the outcomes of his visit, which has created significant debate on the relationship with Cook Islands and New Zealand.

    He has said that the “comprehensive strategic partnership” deal with China is expected to be signed today, and does not include a security component.

    While on one hand, the New Zealand government has been urged not to overreact, on the other the Cook Islands opposition want Brown and his government out.

    Locals in Rarotonga have accused New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters of being a “bully”, while others are planning to protest against Brown’s leadership.

    A local resident, Tim Buchanan, said Peters has “been a bit bullying”.

    He said Peters had overacted and the whole issue had been “majorly” blown out of proportion.

    ‘It doesn’t involve security’
    “It does not involve our national security, it does not involve borrowing a shit load of money, so what is your concern about?

    “Why do we need to consult him? We have been a sovereign nation for 60 years, and all of a sudden he’s up in arms and wanted to know everything that we’re doing”

    Brown previously told RNZ Pacific that he had assured Wellington “over and over” that there “will be no impact on our relationship and there certainly will be no surprises”.

    However, New Zealand said it should have seen the text prior to Brown leaving for China.

    Cook Islands opposition MP and leader of the Cook Islands United Party Teariki Heather filed a vote filed a vote of no confidence motion against the Prime Minister
    Cook Islands opposition MP and leader of the Cook Islands United Party Teariki Heather . . . he has filed a vote filed a vote of no confidence motion against Prime Minister Mark Brown. Image: Caleb Fotheringham/RNZ Pacific

    Vote of no confidence
    Cook Islands opposition MP Teariki Heather said he did not want anything to change with New Zealand.

    “The response from the government and Winston Peters and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, that’s really what concerns us, because they are furious,” said Heather, who is the leader of Cook Islands United Party.

    Heather has filed a no confidence motion against the Prime Minister and has been the main organiser for a protest against Brown’s leadership that will take place on Monday morning local time.

    He is expecting about 1000 people to turn up, about one in every 15 people who reside in the country.

    Opposition leader Tina Browne is backing the motion and will be at the protest which is also about the Prime Minister’s push for a local passport, which he has since dropped.

    With only eight opposition members in the 24-seat parliament, Browne said the motion of no confidence is not about the numbers.

    “It is about what are we the politicians, the members of Parliament, going to do about the two issues and for us, the best way to demonstrate our disapproval is to vote against it in Parliament, whether the members of Parliament join us or not that’s entirely up to them.”

    The 2001 document argument
    Browne said that after reading the constitution and the 2001 Joint Centenary Declaration, she agreed with Peters that the Cook Islands should have first consulted New Zealand on the China deal.

    “Our prime minister has stated that the agreement does not affect anything that he is obligated to consult with New Zealand. I’m very suspicious of that because if there is nothing offensive, why the secrecy then?

    “I would have thought, irrespective, putting aside everything, that our 60 year relationship with New Zealand, who’s been our main partner warrants us to keep that line open for consultation and that’s even if it wasn’t in [the Joint Centenary Declaration].”

    Other locals have been concerned by the lack of transparency from their government to the Cook Islands people.

    But Cook Islands’ Foreign Minister Tingika Elikana said that is not how these deals were done.

    “I think the people have to understand that in regards to agreements of this nature, there’s a lot of negotiations until the final day when it is signed and the Prime Minister is very open that the agreements will be made available publicly and then people can look at it.”

    Cook Islands Foreign Minister Tingika Elikana
    Cook Islands Foreign Minister Tingika Elikana . . . Image: Caleb Fotheringham/RNZ Pacific

    New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the government would wait to see what was in the agreement before deciding if any punishment should be imposed.

    With the waiting, Elikana said he was concerned.

    “We are worried but we want to see what will be their response and we’ve always reiterated that our relationship is important to us and our citizenship is really important to us, and we will try our best to remain and retain that,” Elikana said.

    He did not speculate about the vote of no confidence motion.

    “I think we just leave it to the day but I’m very confident in our team and very confident in our Prime Minister.”

    ‘Cook Islands does a lot for New Zealand’
    Cultural leader and carver Mike Tavioni said he did not know why everyone was so afraid of the Asian superpower.

    “I do not know why there is an issue with the Cook Islands and New Zealand, as long as Mark [Brown] does not commit this country to a deal with China with strings attached to it,” he said.

    Tavioni said the Cook Islands does a lot for New Zealand also, with about 80,000 Cook Islanders living in New Zealand and contributing to it’s economy.

    “The thing about consulting, asking for permission, it does not go down well because our relationship with Aotearoa should be taken into consideration.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future.

    These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode with a wide range of political stakeholders.

    The talks, which included pro-independence and pro-France parties, were said to have “allowed to restore a climate of trust between France and New Caledonia’s politicians”.

    Those meetings contributed to “a better understanding” of “everyone’s expectations” and “clarify everyone’s respective projects”, Valls said.

    Between February 4 and 9, Valls said he had met “at least twice” with delegations from all six parties and movements represented in New Caledonia’s Congress.

    The main goal was to resume the political process and allow everyone to “project themselves into the future” after the May 2024 riots.

    The riots caused 14 dead, hundreds of injured, arson and looting of hundreds of businesses and an estimated damage of some 2.2 billion euros (NZ$4 billion).

    ‘Touched all topics’
    “We have touched on all topics, extensively and without any taboo, including the events related to the riots that broke out in New Caledonia in May 2024.”

    Valls said in this post-riot situation, “everyone bears their own responsibilities, but the French State may also have a part of responsibility for what happened a few months ago”.

    New Caledonia’s key economic leaders Mimsy Daly and David Guyenne with French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls – 8 February 2025 - PHOTO MEDEF NC
    New Caledonia’s key economic leaders Mimsy Daly and David Guyenne with French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls. Image: MEDEF NC/RNZ

    At the weekend, as part of the week-long talks, Valls and French Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin hosted a three-hour session dedicated to New Caledonia’s “devastated” economy.

    High on the agenda of the conference were crucial subjects, such as France’s assistance package, the need to reform and reduce costs in New Caledonia (including in the public service workforce) — as well as key sectors such as the health, tourism sectors and the nickel mining and processing industry — which has been facing an unprecedented crisis for the past two years.

    Unemployment benefits
    There was also a significant chapter dedicated to the duration of special unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs due to the riots’ destruction.

    Another sensitive point raised was the long and difficult process for businesses (especially very small, small and medium) damaged and destroyed for the same reasons to get insurance companies to pay compensation.

    Most insurance companies represented in New Caledonia have, since the May 2024 riots, cancelled the “riot risk” from their insurance coverage.

    This has so far made it impossible for riot-damaged businesses to renew their insurance cover under the same terms as before.

    French assistance to post-riot recovery in New Caledonia includes a 1 billion euros (NZ$1.8 billion) loan ceiling and a special fund of some 192 million euros (NZ$350 million) dedicated to the reconstruction of public buildings, mainly schools.

    New Caledonia’s students are returning to school next week as part of the new academic year.

    French public accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin speaking
    French Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin speaking from Paris to New Caledonia audience via a vision conference during the Economic Forum last Saturday. Image: NC la 1ère TV/RNZ

    Economy and politics closely intertwined
    Valls stressed once again that “there cannot be an economic recovery without a political compromise, just like there cannot be any lasting political solution without economic recovery”.

    “(France) needs to be there so that the economic slump (caused by the riots) does not turn into a social disaster which, in turn, would exacerbate political fractures”.

    “The government of France will be on your side. No matter what happens. We are absolutely taking charge of our responsibilities.”

    The “economic Forum” was also the first time delegations from all political tendencies, even though they did not talk to each other directly, were at least sitting in the same room.

    “Thank you all for being here, this is a beautiful picture of New Caledonia. Maybe the economy can do more than politics”, Valls told the Economic Forum last Saturday.

    Next step: ‘trilateral’ meetings
    The next step, in New Caledonia, is for Valls to attempt holding “trilateral” meetings (involving all parties, pro and anti-independence and France) around the same table, which was not the case in Paris last week.

    The format of those Nouméa talks, however, “remains to be determined”.

    Valls said he could stay in New Caledonia for as long as one week because, he said, “I want to take time”, including to not only meet politicians, but also economic and civil society stakeholders.

    The 62-year-old French minister, who is also a former Prime Minister, as a political adviser to the then French Socialist Prime Minister Michel Rocard, was involved in the signing of the Matignon Accord, signed in 1988 between France, pro-independence and pro-France parties, which effectively put an end to half a decade of quasi civil war in the French Pacific archipelago.

    He also stressed that any future discussion would be based on the “foundation and basis” of the Matignon and Nouméa Accords which, he said, was “the only possible way”.

    The Nouméa Accord, signed in 1998 between the same parties, paved the way for a gradual transfer of powers from France to New Caledonia as well as a status of wider autonomy, often described in the legal jargon as “sui generis”.

    Until now, under the Nouméa Accord, the key powers remaining to be transferred by France were foreign affairs (shared with New Caledonia), currency, law and order, defence and justice.

    New Caledonia’s authorities have not requested the implementation of the transfer for another three portfolios: higher education, research, audiovisual communication and the administration of communes.

    An exit protocol
    But the 1998 deal also included an exit protocol, depending on the results of three referendums on self-determination.

    Those referendums were held in 2018, 2020 and 2021 and they all yielded a majority of votes against independence.

    However, New Caledonia’s pro-independence movement largely boycotted the third poll and has since contested its validity.

    Pro-France and pro-independence camps hold radically different views on how New Caledonia should evolve in its post-Nouméa Accord (1998) future status.

    The options mentioned so far by local parties range from a quick independence (a five-year process to begin in September 2025 following the anticipated signature of a “Kanaky Accord”) to some sort of yet undefined “shared sovereignty” that could imply an “independence-association”, or a status of “associated state” for New Caledonia.

    Pro-France parties, however, have previously stated they were determined to push for New Caledonia to remain part of France and, in corollary, that New Caledonia’s three provinces (North, South and Loyalty Islands) should be granted more separate powers, a formula sometimes described as “internal federalism” but criticised by pro-independence parties as a form of “apartheid”.

    Complicating factor
    Another complicating factor is that both sides — pro-independence and pro-France camps — are also divided between moderate and radical components.

    Last week, during question time in Parliament, Valls expressed concern at the current polarised situation: “People talk about racism, civil war. A common and shared project can only be built through dialogue.

    “The (previously signed, respectively in 1988 and 1998) Matignon and Nouméa Accords, both bearing the prospect of a decolonisation process, are the foundation of our discussions. I would even say they are part of my DNA,” the minister said.

    Referring to any future outcome of the current talks, he said they will have to be “inventive, ambitious, bold in order to build a compromise and do away with any radical position, all radical positions, in order to offer a common project for New Caledonia, for its youth, for concord and for peace”.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Advance Australia

    Hard-right lobby group Advance Australia has amassed a $14m warchest to target Greens and Teals at the Federal Election. Michael West reports.

    The latest political donations data released by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) reveal that right-wing lobby group Advance Australia has tripled its receipts since 22/23, now holding over $15 million for the 23/24 period. 

    Advance Australia lobbies against renewable energy and for Israel. It has been outed for ‘astroturfing’, running fake grassroots campaigns.

    Only $1.1 million of this amount has disclosed donor details, leaving a substantial $14 million in “dark money” — that is, funds from anonymous sources.

    The largest disclosed donor is the Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd, the Liberal Party’s endowment fund, contributing $500,000. Additionally, Roger Gillespie, the founder of Baker’s Delight, and his wife Leslie, each donated $50,000. Gillespie has a history of donating to both Advance and the Liberal Party.

    The recent gathering at Tony Abbott’s office, attended by notable figures like Maurice Newman, Warren Mundine, and Peter Dutton, highlights the close ties between the Liberal Party’s right wing and Advance Australia.

    Abbott, Mundine, Adler

    Many of these individuals play key roles within Advance: Maurice Newman as an early driver, Tony Abbott as an advisor, Warren Mundine as a spokesperson, and David Adler, of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), as a founding board member and advisor.

    Advance Australia astroturfers | Scam of the Week

    Advance Australia is actively involved in the Victorian by-election for the seat of Prahran, campaigning to put the Greens last.

    Leaked Advance group chat in Prahran by-election campaign

    While supporting the Liberal candidate, they are also collaborating with former Labor MP Tony Lupton, who has since denounced Labor and accused it of being weak on anti-semitism.

    Lupton’s wife, Julie Szego, has written about anti-semitism, and her views have been promoted by the Israel lobby. This collaboration between Lupton and Advance could be the first instance of a senior Labor figure associating with the pro-Netanyahu lobby.

    Advance targets Greens and Teals

    Advance’s current activities are seen as preparation for the upcoming federal election, where their primary targets are the Greens and Teal independents.

    In the event of a Dutton minority government, Advance aims to have One Nation, Libertarians, and compliant independents on the cross-bench, potentially giving them significant influence in the political landscape.

    Overall, Advance Australia’s big rise in funding, coupled with its close ties to the Liberal Party’s right wing and its active involvement in elections, raises concerns about the influence of “dark money” and the organisation’s role in shaping Australian politics.

    The lack of transparency surrounding a large portion of their funding and their strategic targeting of specific political parties and candidates highlight the potential impact of Advance Australia on the future of Australian democracy. And the question of foreign interference is likely to arise as per the “anti-Israel” platform revealed in the group chat above.

    And Labor

    Due to the opacity of the AEC data and the complex structures of donor orgs, it takes time to search for the identity of donors, for all parties. Therefore this story has focused on Advance.

    On the Labor side, things are equally opaque. We did pick up however that Abelshore, a company owned by coal giant Glencore, donated another $6.8m to the Mining and Energy Union (formerly CFMEU).

    Labor’s $39M Political Loophole | The West Report

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Janus the Roman god of Doorways. Image: Tony Grist, Wikipedia

    As the Government junked its promise to reform gambling ads before the Election, Michael West looks at the two faces of Sportsbet.

    This article is the third in the Michael West Media multinational tax dodging series for 2025. Janus, the two-headed Roman God is the patron of this series.

    Janus could see forwards and backwards and inside and outside using his two heads. The practices of this ‘Roman god of doorways and transitions’ are worshipped by the multinational tax fraternity in Australia which strives to give information to the Tax Office with one head while the other head gives exactly the opposite information to the Federal Parliament and the public.

    Our first article, Foxtel: transactions you can’t trust, tax evasion you can’t ignore, revealed that Foxtel generated $14B income over 5 years with zero income tax paid.

    With one head, the Janus-faced Foxtel broadcasters of Sky News are demonise welfare bludgers. With the other head, Foxtel revels in corporate welfare bludging itself by cheating Australia’s tax base.

    Our second article, News Corp lies to Parliament in lobbying putsch to change media laws exposed the activities of Foxtel’s other head which tells the Government, straight-faced, how they pay income tax while Netflix does not.

    Our third article here is about Irish bookmaker Sportsbet whose one head goes out to $9,000 lunches with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland while its other head is busy depleting the bank accounts of its customers.

    The Sportsbet business model relies on the chance that their customer base is always about to lose. On average, Sportsbet’s business causes its customers to experience financial losses. Sportsbet claims that losing money is a source of entertainment for these people.

    With one head, Sportsbet’s website proffers a commitment to safer gambling. With another head, Sportsbet promotes the notion that problem gambling is fun. A recent class action against Janus-Sportsbet alleges that it actively promoted an illegal live betting service resulting in millions of dollars of losses to customers.

    A $600m black hole

    Sportsbet also has form with its Tax Office storytelling because $600m of the company’s wagering income is mysteriously absent from its tax returns.

    Sportsbet reports its net wagering income to the ATO. But Janus-like, it reports much lower net wagering income to the ATO than the income (revenue) that it discloses to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

    How much lower is the net wagering income reported to the ATO?  Based on MWM calculations there is an income deficit of $0.6 billion over the 5-year period 2019 to 2023. That’s half a billion in net wagering income that seems to have gone missing from Sportsbet’s filings with the ATO.

    The table below shows the numbers.

    Source: Wally the Chartered Accountant

    There are plausible reasons why total income reported to the ATO might differ from revenue reported to ASIC. These reasons do not appear sufficient to explain the $0.6 billion deficit.

    The deficit is $1.4B before GST because GST is not included in total income reported to the ATO but it is included in revenue.

    With one head, Janus-faced Sportsbet recognises revenue gross with the GST included. With another head, Sportsbet declares in its statutory financial reports that it complies Australian Accounting Standards including this one: “Revenues . . shall be recognised net of the amount of goods and services tax (GST)”.

    Net of fishing nets

    Perhaps Sportsbet’s audit firm, KPMG, might explain Sportsbet’s duplicity or maybe they just need to do some extra training on the meaning of “net of the GST”.

    The word “net” as used in accounting standards is not like a fishing net. It doesn’t mean include it, or catch it in the net and drag it in. Net of the GST means not including the GST.

    Another reason for the deficit might be that Sportsbet recognises revenue for outstanding bets whereas total income reported to the ATO is limited to realised bets, that is, realised gains and losses from betting activities.

    Outstanding bets on December 31 (Sportsbet’s financial year-end) could include bets on which football club will win the Premier League title in the United Kingdom, which is usually determined in May each year.

    Janus

    Janus

    Outstanding bets become realised bets when the gambled-on event has occurred. A deficit of $0.6B is highly unlikely to be explained by outstanding bets. This is because over a five-year period, outstanding bets should wash out to a significant extent.

    So, the question remains, why is there a $0.6B deficit in the income that Sportsbet reports to the ATO when compared to the income it reports to ASIC?

    Sportsbet’s latest marketing campaign champions the AI that customers can use to make bets. AI being referred to here as the “actual intelligence” of other punters (including punters that lose) rather than artificial intelligence. We are encouraged to bet with Brad, even if Brad might be the biggest loser of all time.

    AI is Artificial Income

    When it comes to Sportsbet’s tax affairs though AI would be better described as “artificial income”.

    Has anyone at the ATO cast a sceptical eye over Janus-faced Sportsbet’s income or are staff too busy preparing briefs of evidence to prosecute whistleblower Richard Boyle?

    ATO and ASIC formguide

    Check out the form guide ATO and ASIC!

    Start with the Parliamentary Report of June 2023 entitled You win some, you lose more which finds that:

    • Sportsbet is grooming children and young adults to gamble.
    • Sportsbet is wreaking havoc in Australian communities with saturation advertising.
    • Sportsbet has a business model of shunning winners and targeting gamblers that lose.

    Next is Sportsbet’s accounting practices including:

    • Revenues gross including GST.
    • Cost of sales gross including GST.
    • Nondescript items in the statement of cash flows.
    • Fantastical goodwill recognised to inflate share capital.

    And perhaps the biggest red flag of all: Sportsbet has a propensity to stroke the egos of Labor party heavyweights for commercial advantage. Janus-faced Sportsbet likes to offer lavish meals of praise to heavyweights like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Birthday Girl Communications Minister Michelle Rowland under the guise of engagement.

    These meals are equivalent to giving bonus bets to politicians. But not only do the politicians get fed, the media companies which rely on gambling advertising get fatter too.

    Here at MWM, we would prefer to honour the late Labor party member for Dunkley, Peta Murphy; a Labor party stalwart. She was the driving force behind the Parliamentary Report of June 2023 which espoused reform to gambling advertising.

    Peta Murphy would be horrified that more than 18 months after the release of her Report, the Labor government is yet to respond to it. Now, it has been shelved till after the Election.

    Should the ATO and ASIC trust what Janus-faced Sportsbet has been telling them about their income? Based on the actual intelligence in this article, Brad says no.

    Sportbet doesn’t just groom children with gambling ads, it grooms regulators too

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • The chicken before me had neither lived nor died, but it did look really tasty.

    Five stories up, in a sunny event space tucked away in New York City’s Little Italy earlier this month, chefs had been busy preparing chicken lo mein noodles, empanadas, and shawarma. But the poultry that went into these dishes hadn’t come from a farm — it was grown from animal cells in a lab. Local restaurateurs and chefs mingling around the room had been invited to sample the dishes by Upside Foods, a leading brand in the lab-grown meat business. This was essentially a big pitch meeting: Upside Foods is working on launching a new product called “shreds” — similar to boneless, skinless, shredded chicken meat — and hoping to convince restaurants to buy it once it hits the market. 

    A few attendees, according to Upside Foods Chief Operating Officer Amy Chen, confessed they were nervous to try the lab-grown chicken, which is genetically identical to regular chicken but grown in a bioreactor. “I think for consumers, the idea of cultivated meat is quite different,” Chen said, using another term for lab-grown protein. “And it takes a minute for you to wrap your head around it. But I came from the food world, and I know that tasting is believing.”

    And what tasting Upside Foods’ chicken will have you believe is that it is honest-to-god chicken. The chicken shawarma I tried was juicy and tender, with a taste and texture that were basically indistinguishable from the real thing. This could cut both ways: The breaded chicken strips atop the lo mein noodles tasted like, well, regular chicken tenders — totally average.

    Upside Foods hopes its products will be the future of eating meat. But for all the company’s bullish messaging, an inconvenient detail hung over the showcase: Upside Foods has not yet received federal approval to sell its shredded chicken. And because President Donald Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — a vocal critic of lab-grown meat — to lead the agency that oversees the Food and Drug Administration, no one knows what will happen to that clearance process now. 

    Kennedy has openly questioned the safety of lab-grown meat on X, formerly Twitter, calling it “ultra-processed.” Although he has not been confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, his nomination has been worrying for the U.S. lab-grown meat industry, which has yet to sell its goods in American supermarkets. 

    But experts say there may be a number of opportunities for lab-grown meat under a second Trump administration. Industry leaders argue that cultivated meat is good for business, consumers, and even national security — and certain high-profile Republicans agree.  

    Chef Dominique Crenn uses a spatula to lift a small piece of lab-grown chicken on a cutting board.
    Chef Dominique Crenn, whose restaurant Bar Crenn previously partnered with Upside Foods, arranges lab-grown chicken on a cutting board. Upside Foods

    The promise of lab-grown meat is that it would reduce our reliance on growing animals in factory-farming conditions, which pollute the air and waterways on top of emitting lots of greenhouse gases. Agriculture, by some estimates, accounts for up to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Within the agriculture category, livestock is the leading source of emissions. Scientists say it will be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) without reducing the emissions — particularly methane — that stem from industrial animal agriculture

    The problem is that studies suggest that today’s methods of producing cultivated meat have a higher environmental impact than that of beef. Advocates of cultivated meat say that the industry simply needs more investment to scale up and become energy-efficient.

    Lab-grown meat falls into the “alternative protein” category, which includes plant-based burgers that bleed like real beef and has gotten heaps of attention from investors, nonprofits, and policymakers in recent years. That attention hasn’t always been good. Pitting lab-grown meat against farmers and the beef industry, Florida and Alabama preemptively banned the sale of cultivated meat last year. (Upside Foods sued the state of Florida in response, arguing its measure is unconstitutional.) 

    But industry leaders say they’re working on a feat of bioengineering that will put the United States ahead of other countries trying to grow their cultivated meat industries, such as Israel and Singapore. 

    “That’s something that I spend a lot of time talking about now: the economic potential of cultivated meat. How many jobs can we create?” said Suzi Gerber, head of the Association for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation, a cultured meat trade group. She noted that growing meat under laboratory conditions pulls in resources and workers from other fields: It requires agricultural and manufacturing expertise, and it will employ engineers and rely on farmers. (The cells used to grow Upside Foods’ chicken, for example, come from fertilized chicken eggs, after all.) Investing in lab-grown meat ensures “that American ingenuity is the front, that the American economy keeps evolving, and that we don’t fall behind the rest of the world and their bio-economies,” Gerber said. 

    These arguments have helped lab-grown meat attract supporters from areas not usually associated with vegan-friendly fares. Vivek Ramaswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate and Trump supporter, has come out in support of cultivated meat, saying it should ultimately be up to consumers to decide what they want to eat. Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon, is also an investor in Upside Foods. (He has called himself a centrist Democrat who occasionally votes Republican and made many posts on X about how he hates Trump — but he’s also been described as Elon’s “close confidante” and is on the board of Tesla.) 

    Upside Foods went through the FDA’s pre-market consultation process for its original proof-of-concept product — a simple chicken filet — under Trump’s first term. (The process of making the chicken “shreds” is different enough that it requires additional clearance.) Upside Foods got clearance to sell its product from the FDA in 2022 as well as a thumbs-up from the Department of Agriculture in 2023. But the company has been very slow to bring the filets to market. For a time, the filets were only available at Bar Crenn, a fine-dining restaurant in the Bay Area, although that partnership ended recently. Still, going through that process taught the company valuable lessons, said Eric Schulze, a veteran of the cultivated meat space who led Upside Foods’ regulatory strategy then. 

    Tempura-battered ab-grown chicken is served in a gold dish with edible flowers and greens
    Bar Crenn served Upside Foods’ flagship chicken tempura-style, alongside edible flowers. Upside Foods

    “I worked with the first Trump administration and found it to be actually a very fruitful relationship,” said Schulze, who worked as an FDA regulator under the Obama administration for six years before coming to Upside. He left Upside in 2023 and now advises cultivated meat companies as an independent consultant. 

    According to Schulze, a number of factors worked in Upside Foods’ favor — and could potentially help other cultivated meat companies, too. Schulze said that when Upside Foods was working with the FDA, his team emphasized the pro-business argument for fake meat. “If you have a better product, you know, may it beat us fairly on the playing field of capitalism,” he said.  

    Schulze also noted that cultivated meat wasn’t necessarily as politicized under the last Trump administration as you might expect fake meat options to be. According to Schulze, both the Department of Agriculture and the FDA under Trump seemed to think that “food should be nonpartisan to the extent possible, and to the extent it couldn’t be nonpartisan, it should at least be bipartisan.” Two agency heads appointed by Trump — Scott Gottlieb, who led the FDA from 2017 to 2019, and Sonny Perdue, the former agricultural secretary — were behind the decision to jointly regulate cell-cultured food products. The move indicated a willingness to embrace innovation in the creation of alternative proteins, rather than avoid or ignore them. 

    The question is whether a noted skeptic like Kennedy could come around to endorsing meat that’s been grown from cells, or if he might make it so hard for the companies to see approvals that their products never see the light of day. Chen described Upside Foods’ first review process with the FDA as “incredibly thorough,” adding “we have every reason to believe that that’s going to be the case in the future.”

    Although the regulatory process ultimately determines which products can be sold in the U.S., cultivated meat companies can find support at the state level, and through certain federal grant programs. For example, tech startups can access funding through the federal Small Business Innovation Research program. Maille O’Donnell, a senior policy specialist at the Good Food Institute, a think tank that supports alternative proteins, said the federal program has been an invaluable resource for the companies she works with — and could be immune to partisan squabbles. “This administration has every incentive to continue the SBIR program to help bring down food prices, return manufacturing jobs to the United States, and create new opportunities for farmers,” said O’Donnell.

    A handful of states have programs that support faux meat, such as Illinois, which launched its Alternative Protein Innovation Task Force last year. Massachusetts also allocated $10 million as part of a recent economic development bill to the state’s burgeoning alt protein sector. And in 2022, California supplied $5 billion to support research at three state universities, as part of its state budget. 

    At the federal level, the Biden administration opened up a variety of funding streams for alternative protein companies through the Department of Energy, with the goal of decarbonizing the agricultural industry. And Schulze said the Department of Defense, which has a long history of supporting technological research and development, “absolutely” has interest in investing in alternative proteins. 

    But the Pentagon has also faced blowback for engaging with the cultivated meat industry. In March 2023, the Defense Department gave more than $500 million in funding to BioMADE, a public-private partnership borne out of the department’s manufacturing technology arm, money that would go in part to “biomanufactured proteins.” Two months later, BioMADE put out a call for proposals that used technology, including cell cultivation, to make sustainable food rations for the military. The livestock industry seized on the announcement and chastised the Defense Department for trying to “feed our heroes like lab rats,” as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association put it. After that, the Defense Department publicly denied funding the manufacture of cultivated meat. 

    Still, there are signs of government interest in supporting innovations in alternative proteins. Last year, the Defense Department invested in a company working on using precision fermentation to make alt protein out of fungi. However, it’s too soon to gauge any one federal agency’s interest in supporting cultivated meat, according to Gerber, the head of the cultivated meat trade group. The future of the industry may get even more muddled after Trump attempted to put an end to federal grant programs this week.

    Cultivated meat companies are bulking up their lobbying efforts and also exploring whether there’s any way the upcoming Farm Bill could include some money for them. But Republicans in Congress have vowed to fight against that this year.

    Robert F Kennedy, Jr. walks out of his senate confirmation hearing, accompanied by his wife Cheryl Hines
    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. steps out of one of his confirmation hearings. Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

    If nothing else, how the second Trump administration responds to the growing pains of the cultivated meat industry will offer insight into an age-old question: Can someone change their mind about something as intimate and personal as what food they like? Chen, from Upside Foods, said the most common reaction she’s heard among people trying lab-grown chicken for the first time is something like, “It’s chicken!” She joked that it’s the most unremarkable piece of chicken you’ll ever eat in your life. 

    Asked if Kennedy might be someday convinced by the science and data supporting the safety of such products, Schulze was optimistic. “I do believe that given RFK Jr.’s background and his training” from law school, said Schulze, “that he would at least be open to the evidence and the arguments.” 

    But as for what Trump’s nominee to run the health department might do, Schulze was quick to add: “Unless you’re RFK Jr., you don’t know.” 

    This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Lab-grown meat rebrands itself to woo Trump — and RFK Jr. on Jan 30, 2025.

    This post was originally published on Grist.

  • After lengthy, torrid and emotional debate a critical decision for the future of Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau is being made in March. One party will celebrate; the other will slink back to the drawing board. But will it really settle the great Auckland stadium debate?

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Chris Schulz

    It resembles a building from Blade Runner. It looks like somewhere the Avengers might assemble. It is, believes Paul Nisbet, the future.

    “It’s innovative, it’s groundbreaking, it’s something different,” says the driving force behind Te Tōangaroa, a new stadium mooted for downtown Auckland.

    He has spent 13 years dreaming up this moon shot, and it shows. “We have an opportunity here to deliver something special for the country.”

    Located behind Spark Arena, Te Tōangaroa — also called “Quay Park” — is Nisbet’s big gamble, the stadium he believes Tāmaki Makaurau needs to sustain the city’s live sport and entertainment demands for the next 100 years.

    His is a concept as grand as it gets, a U-shaped dream with winged rooftops that will sweep around fans sitting in the stands, each getting unimpeded views out over the Waitematā Harbour and Rangitoto Island.

    An artist's impression of Quay Park stadium, Auckland.
    Located behind Spark Arena, Te Tōangaroa is also called “Quay Park”. Image: Te Tōangaroa

    Nisbet calls his vision a “gateway for the world,” a structure so grand he believes it would attract the biggest sports teams, stars and sponsors to Aotearoa while offering visitors a must-see tourist destination. Nestled alongside residential areas, commercial zones and an All Blacks-themed hotel, designs show a retractable roof protecting 55,000 punters from the elements and a sky turret towering over neighbouring buildings.

    He’s gone all in on this. Nisbet’s quit his job, assembled a consortium of experts — called Cenfield MXD — and attracted financial backers to turn his vision into a reality. It is, Nisbet believes, the culmination of his 30-year career working in major stadiums, including 11 years as director of Auckland Stadiums.

    “I’ve had the chance to travel extensively,” he says. “I’ve been to over 50 stadiums around the world.”

    Tāmaki Makaurau, he says, needs Te Tōangaroa — urgently. If approved, it will be built over an ageing commercial space and an unused railway yard sitting behind Spark Arena, what Nisbet calls “a dirty old brownfields location that’s sapping the economic viability out of the city”.

    He calls it a “regeneration” project. “You couldn’t mistake you’re in Auckland, or New Zealand, when you see images of it,” he says.

    The All Blacks are on board, says Nisbet, and they want Te Tōangaroa built by 2029 in time for a Lions tour. (The All Blacks didn’t respond to a request for comment, but former players John Kirwan and Sean Fitzpatrick have backed the team moving to Te Tōangaroa.)

    Concert promoters are on board too, says Nisbet. He believes Te Tōangaroa would end the Taylor Swift debacle that’s seen her and many major acts skip us in favour of touring Australian stadiums.

    “It will be one of those special places that international acts just have to play,” he says.

    The problem? Nisbet’s made a gamble that may not pay off. In March, a decision is due to be made about the city’s stadium future. Building Te Tōangaroa, with an estimated construction time of six years and a budget of $1 billion, is just one option.

    The other, Eden Park, has 125 years of history, a long-standing All Blacks record and a huge number of supporters behind it — as well as a CEO willing to do anything to win.

    The stadium standing in Te Tōangaroa’s way
    Stand in Eden Park’s foyer for a few minutes and history will smack you in the face. It’s there in the photos framed on the wall from a 1937 All Blacks test match. It’s sitting in Anton Oliver’s rugby boots from 2001, presumably fumigated and placed inside a glass case.

    More recent history is on display too, with floor-to-ceiling photographs showing off concerts headlined by by Ed Sheeran and Six60, a pivot only possible since 2021.

    Soon, the man in charge of all of this arrives. “Very few people have seen this space,” says Nick Sautner, the Eden Park CEO who shakes my hand, pulls me down a hallway and invites me into a secret room in the bowels of Eden Park. With gleaming wood panels, leather couches and top-shelf liquor, Sautner’s proud of his hidden bar.

    “It’s invite-only . . . a VIP experience,” says Sautner, whose Australian accent remains easily identifiable despite seven years at the helm of Eden Park.

    The future of Eden Park if a refurb is granted.
    The future of Eden Park if a refurb is granted. Image: YouTube

    This bar, he says, is just one of the many innovations Eden Park has undertaken in recent years. Built in 1900, the Mt Eden stadium remains the home of the All Blacks — but Eden Park is no longer considered a specialty sports venue.

    Up to 70 percent of the stadium’s revenue now comes from non-sporting activities, Sautner confirms. You can golf, abseil onto the rooftops and stay the night in dedicated glamping venues. It’s also become promoters’ choice for major concerts, with Coldplay and Luke Combs recently hosting multiple shows there. “We will consider any innovation you can imagine,” Sautner tells me. “We’re a blank canvas.”

    Throughout our interview, Sautner refers to Eden Park as the “national stadium”. He’s upbeat and on form, rattling off statistics and renovations from memory. His social media feeds — especially LinkedIn — are full of posts promoting the stadium’s achievements. He’ll pick up the phone to anyone who will talk to him.

    “Whatsapp is the best way of contacting me,” he says. Residents have his number and can call directly with complaints. After our interview, Sautner passes me his business card then follows it up with an email making sure I have everything I need. “My phone’s always on,” he assures me.

    He may not admit it, but Sautner’s doing all of this in an attempt to get ahead of what’s shaping up as the biggest crisis of Eden Park’s 125 years. If Te Tōangaroa is chosen in March, Eden Park — as well as Albany’s North Harbour Stadium and Onehunga’s Go Media Stadium – will all take a back seat.

    If Eden Park loses the All Blacks and their 31-year unbeaten record, then there’s no other word for it: the threat is existential.

    The future of Eden Park if a refurb is granted.
    Called Eden Park 2.1, Sautner is promoting a three-stage renovation plan. Image: YouTube

    Ask Sautner if he’s losing sleep over his stadium’s future and he shakes his head. To him, Te Tōangaroa’s numbers don’t stack up. “If someone can make the business model work for an alternative stadium in Auckland, I’m all for activating the waterfront,” he says.

    Then he poses a series of questions: “How many events a year would a downtown stadium hold? Forty-five?” he asks. “So 320 other days a year, what’s going to be in that stadium?”

    He is, of course, biased. But Sautner believes upgrading Eden Park is the right move. Called Eden Park 2.1, Sautner is promoting a three-stage renovation plan that includes building a $100 million retractable rooftop. A new North Stand would lift Eden Park’s capacity to 70,000, and improved function facilities and a pedestrian bridge would turn the venue into “a fortress . . . capable of hosting every event”.

    He’s veering into corporate speak, but Sautner sees the vision clearly. With his annual concert consent recently raised from six to 12 shows, he already thinks he’s got it in the bag, “Eden Park has the land, it has the consent, it has the community, it has the infrastructure,” he says. “I’m very confident Eden Park is going to be here for another 100 years.”

    Instead of a drink, Sautner offers RNZ a personal stadium tour that takes us through the exact same doors that open when the All Blacks emerge onto the hallowed turf. There, blinking in the sunlight, Sautner sweeps his arms around the stadium and grins. “I get up every day and I think of my family,” he says. “Then I think, ‘How can I make Eden Park better?”

    The stadium debate: ‘It began when the dinosaurs died out’
    It is, says Shane Henderson, an argument for the ages. It never seems to quit. How long have Aucklanders been feuding about stadiums? “It began when the dinosaurs died out,” jokes Henderson.

    For the past year, he’s been chairing a working group that will make the decision on Auckland’s stadium future. That group whittled four options down to the current two, eliminating a sunken waterfront stadium, and another based in Silo Park.

    He’s doing this because Wayne Brown asked him to. “The mayor said, ‘We need to say to the public, ‘This is our preferred option for a stadium for the city.’” It’s taken over Henderson’s life. Every summer barbecue has turned into a forum for people to share their views.

    “People say, “Why don’t you do this?’” he says. Henderson won’t be drawn on which way he’s leaning ahead of March’s decision, but he’s well aware of the stakes. “We’re talking about the future of our city for generations to come,” he says. “It’s natural feelings are going to run high.”

    That’s true. As I researched this story, the main parties engaged in a back-and-forth discussion that became increasingly heated. Jim Doyle, from Te Tōangaroa’s Cenfield MXD team, described Eden Park’s situation as desperate.

    “Eden Park can’t fund itself . . . it’s got no money, it’s costing ratepayers,” he said. Doyle alleged the stadium “wouldn’t be fit for purpose”. “You’re going to have to spend probably close to $1 billion to upgrade it.” Asked what should happen to Eden Park should the decision go Te Tōangaroa’s way, Doyle shrugged his shoulders. “Turn it into a retirement village.”

    Eden Park’s Sautner immediately struck back. Yes, he admits Eden Park owes $40 million to Auckland Council, calling that debt a “legacy left over from the Rugby World Cup 2011”. But he denied most of the consortium’s claims.

    “Eden Park does not receive any funding or subsidies from Auckland ratepayers,” Sautner said in a written statement. He confirmed renovations had already begun. “Over the past three years, the Trust has invested more than $30 million to enhance infrastructure and upgrade facilities . . . creating flexible spaces to meet evolving market demands.”

    Sautner said Doyle’s statement was evidence of his team’s inexperience. “We are extremely disappointed that comments of this nature have been made,” he said. “They are factually incorrect and highlight Quay Park consortium’s lack of understanding of stadium economics.”

    Do we even need to do this?
    As the stadium debate turns into a showdown, major stars continue to skip Aotearoa in favour of huge Australian shows, with Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue and Oasis all giving us a miss this year. New Zealand music fans are reluctantly spending large sums on flights and accommodation if they want to see them. Until Metallica arrives in November, there are no stadium shows booked; just three of Eden Park’s 12 allotted concert slots are taken this year.

    Yet, Auckland City councillors will soon study feasibility reports being submitted by both stadium options.

    On March 24, Henderson, the working group chair, says councillors will come together to “thrash it out” and vote for their preferred option. There will only be one winner, and The New Zealand Herald reports either building Te Tōangaroa or Eden Park 2.1 is likely to cost more than $1 billion. Either we’re spending that on a brand new waterfront stadium, or we’re upgrading an old one.

    “Is that the best use of that money?” asks David Benge. The managing director for events company TEG Live doesn’t believe Tāmaki Makaurau needs another stadium because it’s barely using those it already has. He has questions.

    “I understand the excitement around a shiny new toy, but to what end?” he asks. “Can Auckland sustain a show at Go Media Stadium, a show at Western Springs, a show at Eden Park, and a show at this new stadium on the same night — or even in the same week?”

    Benge doesn’t believe Te Tōangaroa would entice more artists to play here either. “I’m yet to meet an artist who’s going to be swayed by how iconic a venue is,” he says. Bigger problems include the size of our population and the strength of our dollar.

    No matter the venue, “you’re still incurring the same expenses to produce the show,” he says. Instead, he suggests Pōneke as the next city needing a new venue. “If you could wave a magic wand and invest in a 10,000-12,000-capacity indoor arena in Wellington, that would be fantastic,” he says.

    An artist's impression of Quay Park stadium, Auckland.
    Would a new stadium really lure big artists to NZ? Image: Te Tōangaroa

    Live Nation, the touring juggernaut that hosts most of the country’s stadium shows, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Other promoters canvassed by RNZ offered mixed views. Some wanted a new stadium, while others wanted a refurbished one. Every single one of them said that any new stadium needed to be built with concerts — not sport — in mind.

    “We’re fitting a square peg in a round hole,” one said about the production costs involved in trucking temporary stages into Eden Park or Go Media Stadium. “Turf replacement can add hundreds of thousands — if not $1 million — to your bottom line,” said another.

    Some wanted something else entirely. Veteran promoter Campbell Smith pointed out Auckland Council is seeking input for a potential redevelopment of Western Springs. One mooted option is turning it into a home ground for the rapidly rising football club Auckland FC. Smith doesn’t agree with that. “I think it’s a really attractive option for music and festivals,” he says. “It’s got a large footprint, it’s easily accessible, it’s close to the city … It would be a travesty if it was developed entirely for sport.”

    One thing is for certain: a decision on this lengthy, torrid and emotional topic is being made in March. One party will celebrate; the other will slink back to the drawing board. Will it finally end the great Auckland stadium debate? That’s a question that seems easier to answer than any of the others.

    Chris Schulz is a freelance entertainment journalist and author of the industry newsletter, Boiler Room. This article was first published by RNZ and is republished with the author’s permission. Asia Pacific Report has a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament and is liable to prosecution — not that government will lift a finger to enforce the law, reports Michael West Media.

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Michael West

    Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament. In a submission to the Senate, the company claimed, “Foxtel also pays millions of dollars in income tax, GST and payroll tax, unlike many of our large international digital competitors”.

    However, an MWM investigation into the financial affairs of Foxtel has shown Foxtel was paying zero income tax when it told the Senate it was paying “millions”. The penalty for lying to the Senate is potential imprisonment, although “contempt of Parliament” laws are never enforced.

    The investigation found that NXE, the entity that controls Foxtel, paid no income tax in any of the five years from 2019 to 2023. During this time it generated $14 billion of total income.

    The total tax payable across this period is $0. The average total income is $2.8 billion per year.

    Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications LegislationCommittee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill
    Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill. Image: MWM screenshot

    Why did News Corporation mislead the Parliament? The plausible answers are in its Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment.

    In May 2021 — which is also where the transgression occurred — the media executives for the American tycoon were lobbying a Parliamentary committee to change the laws in their favour.

    By this time, Netflix had leap-frogged Foxtel Pay TV subscriptions in Australia and Foxtel was complaining it had to spend too much money on producing local Australian content under the laws of the time. Also that Netflix paid almost no tax.

    Big-league tax dodger
    They were correct in this. Netflix, which is a big-league tax dodger itself, was by then making bucketloads of money in Australia but with zero local content requirements.

    Making television drama and so forth is expensive. It is far cheaper to pipe foreign content through your channels online. As Netflix does.

    The misleading of Parliament by corporations is rife, and contempt laws need to be enforced, as demonstrated routinely by the PwC inquiry last year. Corporations and their representatives routinely lie in their pursuit of corporate objectives.

    If democracy is to function better, the information provided to Parliament needs to be clarified, beyond doubt, as reliable. Former senator Rex Patrick has made the point in these pages.

    Even in this short statement to the committee of inquiry (published above), there are other misleading statements. Like many companies defending their failure to pay adequate income tax, Foxtel claims that it “paid millions” in GST and payroll tax.

    Companies don’t “pay” GST or payroll tax. They collect these taxes on behalf of governments.

    Little regard for laws
    Further to the contempt of Parliament, so little regard for the laws of Australia is shown by corporations that the local American boss of a small gas fracking company, Tamboran Resources, controlled by a US oil billionaire, didn’t even bother turning up to give evidence when asked.

    This despite being rewarded with millions in public grant money.

    Politicians need to muscle up, as Greens Senator Nick McKim did when grilling former Woolies boss Brad Banducci for prevaricating over providing evidence to the supermarket inquiry.

    Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker. This article was first published by Michael West Media and is reopublished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • News Corp, Foxtel, Senate

    Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament and is liable to prosecution, not that government will lift a finger to enforce the law. Michael West reports.

    Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has misled the Australian Parliament. In a submission to the Senate the company claimed “Foxtel also pays millions of dollars in income tax, GST and payroll tax, unlike many of our large international digital competitors”.

    However, an MWM investigation into the financial affairs of Foxtel has shown Foxtel was paying zero income tax when it told the Senate it was paying “millions”. The penalty for lying to the Senate is potential imprisonment, although ‘contempt of Parliament’ laws are never enforced.

    The investigation found NXE, the entity which controls Foxtel, paid no income tax in any of the five years from 2019 to 2023. During this time it generated $14 billion of total income. The total tax payable across this period is $0. The average total income is $2.8 billion per year.

    Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications LegislationCommittee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill

    Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill

    Why did News Corporation mislead the Parliament? The plausible answers are in its Foxtel Submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into The Broadcasting Legislation Amendment. 

    In May 2021 – which is also where the transgression occurred – the media executives for the American tycoon were lobbying a Parliamentary committee to change the laws in their favour.

    By this time, Netflix had frog-leaped Foxtel Pay TV subscriptions in Australia and Foxtel was complaining it had to spend too much money on producing local Australian content under the laws of the time. Also that Netflix paid almost no tax.

    They were correct in this. Netflix, which is a big-league tax dodger itself, was by then making bucketloads of money in Australia but with zero local content requirements. Making television drama and so forth is expensive. It is far cheaper to pipe foreign content through your channels online. As Netflix does.

    Foxtel: transactions you can’t trust, tax evasion you can’t ignore

     

    The misleading of Parliament by corporations is rife and contempt laws need to be enforced, as demonstrated routinely by the PwC inquiry last year. Corporations and their representatives routinely lie in their pursuit of corporate objectives.

    As if democracy is to function better the information provided to Parliament needs to be clarified, beyond doubt, as reliable. Former senator Rex Patrick has made the point in these pages.

    Rex Patrick: has the Australian Senate lost its mojo?

    Even in this short statement to the committee of inquiry (published above), there are other misleading statements. Like many companies defending their failure to pay adequate income tax, Foxtel claims that it “paid millions” in GST and payroll tax.

    Companies don’t ‘pay’ GST or payroll tax. They collect these taxes on behalf of governments.

    A Netflix Original: Dreams of Theft Downunder

    Further to the contempt of Parliament, so little disregard for the laws of Australia are shown by corporations that the local American boss of a small gas fracking company Tamboran Resources, controlled by a US oil billionaire didn’t even bother turning up to give evidence when asked.

    This despite being rewarded with millions in public grant money.

    Gas fracker Tamboran grabs government cash, snubs Senate, scurries off to tax haven

    Politicians need to muscle up, as did Greens senator Nick McKim did when grilling former Woolies boss Brad Banducci for prevaricating over providing evidence to the supermarkets inquiry.

    Gas fracker Tamboran grabs government cash, snubs Senate, scurries off to tax haven

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • First Quantum Minerals’ copper operation was shut down more than a year ago, but Indigenous people report restrictions on movement and unexplained illness and death

    For the people of the nine Indigenous communities within the perimeter of the sprawling Cobre Panamá copper mine, travelling into and out of the concession is far from straightforward. An imposing metal gateway staffed by the mining company’s security guards blocks the road. People say the company severely restricts their movement in and out of the zone, letting them through only on certain days.

    The mining concession, located 120km (75 miles) west of Panama City, is owned by Canada-based First Quantum Minerals, which operates through its local subsidiary, Minera Panamá. The company’s private security guards, not the national police, patrol the concession. Local residents, mostly subsistence farmers of modest means, say that First Quantum operates as a state within a state.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • BHP, James Joseph and Simon Turner

    As the Same Job Same Pay showdown over labour hire loopholes kicks off in Court today, there is the matter of a BHP $2.5B wage theft nobody wants to touch. Michael West reports.

    Simon Turner and James Joseph were both injured at BHP’s Mt Arthur Coal. One blue collar, the other white. Turner was a coal miner who drove coal trucks, Joseph was a human resources executive who worked a keyboard.

    Despite their different roles, both were covered under the Black Coal Award at the time of their injuries. Both were at first ‘mysteriously kept’ from the safety regulators, both are now at loggerheads with BHP, both have been threatened, both have had their personal lives left in tatters in their pursuit of justice.

    And both were dismayed to find just before Christmas that the mining juggernaut, its constellation of lawyers, unions and labour hire firms – and even the government – had successfully petitioned the Court to bury documents relating to what they describe as Australia’s largest workplace scam; the multi-billion dollar wage theft of thousands of coal workers.

    This action is set down for hearing in the Fair Work Commission this morning as BHP locks horns with the Government over its Same Job Same Pay laws.  

    BHP wage theft cover-up in the shadows of Christmas

    Despite efforts by BHP and the mining lobby to cover up what Simon Turner calculates is at least a $2.5B wage theft (the labour hire scam which the new laws have sought to address), it is possible to piece together enough evidence to demonstrate an historic wage fraud.

    At the heart of Turner’s action against BHP is the matter of who actually employed him. “All the documents [we] tendered into court [in a 2019 class action by coal workers] showed Chandler Macleod was the true employer,” says Turner. 

    CFMEU V HVEC

    Excerpt of “Altobelli judgement in CFMEU V HVEC

    “This would have been a win for me and everyone in the coal industry if this was cited in court, if Justice Michael Lee [of the Federal Court] had been aware of it,” he told MWM.

    “And it exposes a load of fraudulent workers compensation claims – that they are all underpaid and that they [BHP and its labour hire firm Chandler] have misled the courts multiple times over many years.”

    What is the evidence for Simon Turner’s claim? There is the matter in the Fair Work Commission in March 2015 filed by the CFMEU against Chandler Macleod for illegal casual employment under the Black Coal award. The Union told the Commission that all their Chandler Macleod employees were employed as casuals under the Award.

    Again burying the evidence trail, this matter was settled by way of a confidential deed for one person a day before the Fair Work Commission approved a brand new agreement on June 4, 2015 between the CFMEU and Chandler which added in the casual classification – the very casual classification that was not permitted under the Award, “and that the CFMEU had stated must be kept out of the coal mining industry”. 

    The Altobelli Ruling

    “In December 2015, the CFMEU then filed a matter against BHP’s HVEC (Hunter Valley Energy Coal) for adverse action,” says Turner. “This is the matter where Judge Altobelli ruled in 2017 that Chandler Macleod (ABN 052) was the true employer.” 

    Yet, fast-forward to March 2018, and when Turner saw the defence brief by BHP in his class action he noticed BHP and its lawyers had inserted Ready Workforce as first defendant. “I was never employed by Ready Workforce (ABN 037). This is 2 years after the Altobelli decision in which BHP Hunter Valley Energy Coal was the defendant”.

    BHP's defence in Turner class action claims Ready Workforce was the employer

    BHP’s defence in Turner class action claims Ready Workforce was the employer

    “I didn’t know who they were,” says Turner. “They never paid me, Ready Workforce never paid my weekly wage, PAYG tax, compulsory super contributions or the compulsory Coal LSL payroll levy.

    “There was no document trail. I’d never heard of them. No one had any knowledge of a 2007 Ready Workforce agreement that somehow suddenly applies in 2014/15. And there was no evidence put forward to the class action in the BHP defence.

    “Ready had no contract at the Mt Arthur Mine; it never invoiced BHP HVEC and never received payments from BHP HVEC.”  

    “The Court had the payslips, they had the Tax Office documents [showing Chandler was the employer] but these were never put into Court”.

    The proof

    Another former coal miner involved with the action confirmed this to MWM. Sam Stephens also worked at Mt Arthur. 

    “Like Mr Turner, I too possess two sets of PAYG summaries from my former employer for the same year. The original shows that I was employed by Chandler Macleod, the other carries a different employer ABN while all the financial details remained consistent with the original.

    “When I informed the Attorney General Mark Dreyfus and the Treasurer Jim Chalmers regarding this matter and other issues surrounding my personal records as held by the ATO in August of 2022, via email, I eventually got a phone call from someone in Treasury.

    “The official response? The matters that you raise are private legal matters between you and your former employer”.

    Black Hole: CFMEU, governments, BHP, black coal giants in $2.5B worker wage swindle

    A thing of culture

    It is not convincingly contested by the mining and big business lobbies fighting the Government over Sam Job Same Pay that labour hire companies have been deployed to suppress the wages of their workers.

    It is the sheer complexity of the system which is in favour of BHP and the mining corporations. This complexity, the financial muscle to hire endless lawyers, and transparency, which are used as the weapons.

    According to former Mt Arthur Human Resources executive turned whistleblower James Joseph:

    “I recall over my 13 years, when there’s a ‘top secret wages governance project’, they would typically sign legal, HR and senior leaders up to a confidentiality agreement. This created complications with internal transparency of what the true issues versus the actions needed to be.

    “Internal governance for employee wages needs a lot of work. My previous roles were highly focussed on this. Apart from improving the processes, I think more empathy for employees (present and past), to ensure payroll compliance, is critical for the organisation”.

    Paid $400 per week

    For these coal miners the matter was personal. Thanks to BHP’s sleight of hand with the labor hire rort, Turner was being paid $400 a week workers compensation by icare (Insurance and Care NSW) who legally can’t insure the at-risk occupation of a coal miner.

    “I was covered by an icare policy that classified my at-risk occupation as an office worker and paid $28,000 per year, a pittance compared with the $137,000 stipulated under the Black Coal award.”

    It was even more galling that he had broken his back on site at Mt Arthur and, amid a cover-up, was pursuing compensation. His story here:

    Same Job, Lame Pay: BHP and the black coal wage swindle

    So, what did happen? There are big bucks at stake for BHP and its labour hire associates and that’s why they have fought so hard to bury the evidence trail.

    “This [Federal Court matter in 2019] was one class action but it would have spread to Queensland – Adero [Turner’s lawyers] had another 7 class actions in the pipeline – claims against Workpac, Onekey, Tesa and Chandler Macleod”.

    Simon Turner was the lead plaintiff in the BHP Mt Arthur claim where another 1200 workers at that mine alone should be entitled to compensation. 

    Why was the evidence of the real employer never established in court in the class action?

    Case mysteriously discontinued

    “[Justice Michael] Lee got the docket in March 2020. He didn’t know about any of this because the earlier Altobelli court ruling was not submitted and we never got to discovery,” says Turner. “The case was discontinued. The barristers advice says that it can’t go any further because of the 2007 agreement [cited in the BHP defence].” 

    The lack of political will to solve this wages rip-off is easily explained. The Coalition has been silent because it will not stand up to BHP. Likewise Labor, although they have addressed the scam with their Same Job Same Pay laws which the mining companies are now complaining about and challenging in the FWC.

    The issue runs more deeply however. If the workers were found to have been underpaid by the courts, that would present a large hit for the Government. For, the erroneous calculation of wages affects the insurance and long service leave entitlements (Coal LSL) of every worker.

    Revenues from insurance and LSL go to government and the unions … and the profits from this revenue have risen over the years via reinvestment of these proceeds. It is a lot of money.

    BHP declined to respond to questions for this story.

    Stay tuned.

    The BHP whistleblower and the secretive plan to turn Hunter Valley coal into lakes

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • NSW police say two women have minor injuries after a tree fell in heavy winds at Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD. Follow today’s news live

    Alleged attack in Dover Heights ‘disgusting and dangerous’, NSW premier says

    The NSW premier Chris Minns has labelled the alleged attack at Dover Heights overnight as a “disgusting and dangerous act of violence”. In a statement issued this morning, he said:

    This is a disgusting and dangerous act of violence that is the latest example of a rising level of antisemitic attacks in our community.

    Civil society stands united in condemning this flagrant racism. I’ll be getting an update from police this morning.

    It is important that the community and police continue to work together to make NSW a safer place for everyone.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk

    New Caledonia’s mothballed northern nickel plant, Koniambo Nickel (KNS), has appointed a new chairman to steer a shareholding transfer amid the territory’s industry troubles.

    He is Alexandre Rousseau, who was until now the company’s vice-president.

    The company said in a release it had this month replaced Neil Meadows, who has held the position for the past three years.

    Alexandre Rousseau is the new Chairman of New Caledonia’s Koniambo nickel – PHOTO NC la1ère
    Alexandre Rousseau . . . new chair of New Caledonia’s Koniambo nickel plant. Image: NC la 1ère/RNZ Pacific

    Rousseau has been with the company for the past 15 years.

    Like his predecessor, his main task will be to supervise the company’s main shareholder Anglo-Swiss Glencore’s transfer of shares to a yet-to-be-identified buyer.

    The nickel plant, located in the north of New Caledonia’s main island, was mothballed in late August 2024, leaving about 1200 employees unemployed.

    Glencore announced early last year its decision to withdraw from the venture, which had accumulated a staggering loss of 13.7 billion euros (NZ$25 billion) in 10 years of operation.

    Seeking potential buyers
    KNS has since been searching for potential buyers for Glencore’s 49 percent shares.

    Koniambo Nickel logo
    Koniambo Nickel logo. Image: KNS

    The majority shareholder (51 percent) remains Société Minière du Sud Pacifique (SMSP), which is the financial arm of New Caledonia’s Northern Province.

    KNS said talks were ongoing with at least two interested international companies, which had sent inspection delegations on site during the last quarter of 2024.

    Another nickel mining plant, Prony Resource, in the south of New Caledonia’s main island, is also seeking potential buyers for parts of its stock.

    The most advanced talks are with South Africa’s precious metals producer Sibanye-Stillwater, which said it was considering Prony as a possible source for battery-grade nickel.

    While Prony had to cease production for several months due to New Caledonia’s insurrection last year, it managed to gradually resume operations last month.

    This is in view of a planned inspection visit from a Sibanye-Stillwater delegation, who want to see a functioning factory.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Asia Pacific Report

    A Palestine solidarity advocate today appealed to New Zealanders to shed their feelings of powerlessness over the Gaza genocide and “take action” in support of an effective global strategy of boycott, divestment and sanctions.

    “Many of us have become addicted to ‘doom scrolling’ — reading or watching more and more articles on what is happening in Palestine,” Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) national chair Neil Scott told supporters in Auckland’s Te Komititanga Square.

    “Then becoming depressed because we have watched it month after month without feeling we can do anything about it.”

    The news over the 15-month war was depressing daily as the “official” death toll in Gaza from Israel’s war in the besieged enclave topped 46,000 this week, mostly women and children, and Israeli raids on neighbouring Lebanon in breach of the ceasefire and also on Yemen continued unabated.

    The medical research journal Lancet also reported yesterday that the real death toll had been underreported and it was 40 percent higher with an estimated 64,200 killed in the first nine months of the war ending June 30.

    PSNA national secretary Neil Scott
    PSNA national secretary Neil Scott . . . “When we do nothing in the face of the genocide we see going on in Gaza, that causes us to be stressed and be uncomfortable.” Image: APR

    “If you’re like me, you will be scrolling around the available information sources finding out the truth about the crimes against humanity of apartheid and genocide that the Israeli military and the illegal settlers are doing,” Scott said.

    “Along with this, we’re all feeling disgusted at the lack of action by the government.

    “Who feels helpless about what is happening and feel as if they can’t do much about it? A common feeling,” he admitted.

    Action good for health
    Scott said there was evidence that taking some action was actually good for people’s mental health. Feeling helpless added to “the stress we feel”.

    “There is a concept of ‘Bearing Witness’ — this is about exposing ourselves to the suffering of the Palestinians.

    “It basically means being aware of those abuses. Something I think we all do.

    “Then there is ‘Taking Action’ — this is about participating in a tangible way to try to help alleviate or prevent the suffering we witness the Palestinians living through.


    Lancet study: Gaza toll 40% higher.     Video: TRT News

    “When we do nothing in the face of the genocide we see going on in Gaza, that causes us to be stressed and be uncomfortable.

    “But we, as individuals, can do something.

    “All human rights activists, unless we are absolutely overwhelmed at the moment, should probably spend a couple of hours a week taking action. Not all in one go but spread throughout the week.

    Using ‘doom scrolling’ energy
    “We can do something with all that doom scrolling stress or energy.

    “We can turn it into taking action.”


    PSNA’s Neil Scott speaking at the BDS rally today.   Image: APR

    Protesters have embarked on a three-week cycle addressing the global BDS Movement’s strategy of “boycott, divest and sanctions” in support of Palestine’s right to be a state while still seeking a ceasefire. Boycott was today’s theme.

    Scott praised the campaign against Obela hummus products in New Zealand supermarkets, but added that there had been other successful boycotts such as over DocEdge festival trying to screen Israeli documentaries, the recent boycott of Israeli soldier Lina Lushko playing in ASB tennis classic tournament, and future academic boycotts.


    Tasneem Gouda addressing the BDS rally today.   Video: APR

    The rally MC, Tasneem Gouda, reminded the crowd that they had been protesting over the massacres for 66 weeks and that “the BDS movement works”.

    “We have enabled one of the most popular chains to close down and to lose billions of dollars.

    “And to everyone who chooses to continue buying from these brands, let me tell you that every drink, every fry that you buy has blood on it.

    “It has the blood of a Palestinian child. It has the blood of a mother.

    “Shame on you.”

    The BDS rally in support of Palestine at Auckland's Te Komitanga
    The BDS rally in support of Palestine at Auckland’s Te Komitanga Square today. Image: APR

    The BDS Movement was launched by Palestinians in 2005 with more than 170 organisations backing the initiative. Coordination of the movement followed a couple of years later with a conference in Ramallah, Occupied West Bank.

    Aotearoa New Zealand is part of the Asia-Pacific sector of the global movement, grouping Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.

    The Malaysian government is preparing a draft resolution for the United Nations General Assembly to expel Israel over its system of apartheid and the genocide, as South Africa was suspended in 1974 (it was reinstated 20 years later following the end of apartheid).

    A poster calling for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to New Zealand
    A poster calling for the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador to New Zealand. Image: APR


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • UK chancellor becomes first holder of her office to make an official visit to China in a decade

    Rachel Reeves has said the UK “must engage confidently with China”, as she arrived in Beijing amid market turbulence at home.

    The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had demanded the chancellor call off her China trip after the value of the pound plummeted to its lowest level in a year. But ministers argue that improved relations with the world’s second-largest economy will help boost growth, and that under the Conservatives the UK lagged behind the US and EU when it came to high-level engagement with Beijing.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Ice Hockey Australia, Israel

    Ice Hockey Australia has cancelled the world championships in Melbourne as host, claiming Israel’s presence would make it too dangerous. Sandi Logan reports.

    Ice Hockey Australia (IHA) says the inclusion of Israel in the world championships in Melbourne in April has made it too dangerous for players and fans, so has suddenly cancelled its hosting arrangements.

    “Anti-Israel protests and activities (in Melbourne) have escalated significantly since we were awarded the championship and there are now significant concerns regarding safety and security of the event,” announced IHA president Ryan O’Handley in a leaked confidential eMail to his board on 28 December.

    “Victoria Police advised us that there was a high chance of an incident occurring during the championship due to the escalating anti-Israel sentiment in Melbourne.”

    ice hockey world championships, Israel

    No threat, says VicPol

    Victoria Police’s major events team is taking no responsibility for the organiser’s about-face hosting the event – for Australia, Serbia, Holland, Belgium, UAE, and Israel – and denies it ever advised “there was a high chance of an incident occurring”. It also denies it advised IHA to cancel the event.

    “Victoria Police spoke with Ice Hockey Australia and provided feedback about current protest activity,” a spokesperson said. “Any decision to cancel the event was one for Ice Hockey Australia.

    “We understand people are concerned following this incident (at the Adass Israel Synagogue on 6 December), however there are currently no known or specific threats to any Victorian organisation, infrastructure or event. Police encourage people to go about their daily business,” the spokesperson added.

    That’s certainly not the story O’Handley and IHA’s paid staff are circulating. Rumours had been rife for weeks that European teams were holding back from booking flights but it was the Israel team’s general manager Felix Kozak who first spoke about his players’ concerns – or lack thereof – for their safety and security.

    “Australia is a safe country,” Kozak said. “There was zero security in Croatia when we last competed in an IIHF world championship there, and minimal security in Serbia last year. We had one Serbian guard with a gun,” he said.

    “Not politically motivated”

    While IHA’s president is at pains not to offend the Israelis – “I want to emphasise this decision is not politically motivated,” O’Handley wrote – his capitulation to both real and imagined security risks has prompted some in the ice hockey community to question why Australia bid for the event earlier in 2024, only months after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

    “The Israel Government, its defence force, Mossad and any number of interests connected to Benjamin Netanyahu had been waging a by then brutal seven-month campaign against Hamas, against Gaza, against Palestinians – military, civilian and NGO cohorts – in an unrelenting daily bombing campaign,” said one longtime former administrator, “when Ice Hockey Australia put its hand up to host the event in April 2024. They knew back then Israel’s national team would be playing. 

    “This seems to me to have been a poorly considered, premature strategy to get back into international ice hockey’s good books without considering that securing the teams, transport, accommodation, venue, and everything in-between would have added $200,000 to their budget.

    Did they have the money?

    “They’ve come to the realisation too late in their planning they’ve bitten off more than they can chew and they’re now trying to shift the blame, manufacturing an excuse the weekly largely peaceful protests in Melbourne against Israel’s bombing campaign of Gaza, and then the fire attack of the Adass Synagogue have led to police warning them not to proceed. 

    “We all know that’s a lie.

    “The police have clearly said they simply provided feedback about current protest activity and did not make any predictions or speculate about what the protest temperature might be in April 2025,” he added.

    Another longtime ice hockey organiser speculated IHA had withdrawn because it had neither the funds for the security required, nor the support of an estimated 100-150 volunteers required for a major event such as a world championship – an event which offers teams the chance for promotion to higher divisions, ultimately leading to Olympic eligibility.

    A Victoria Police member familiar with its major events operations said police operational support and venue security for the September Land Forces Expo in Melbourne, an event that attracted daily protests including protestors punching horses, and hurling projectiles at police, cost the Victorian Government hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra wages, including support from NSW Police. 

    Police violence at Land Forces, extreme media distortions, a shame on Victoria

    Aside from the thousands of dollars wasted on travel to Europe by the IHA bid team, the secondment of venue staff to the organising committee, and the additional costs now required to be paid by national team players traveling to a new venue – likely in Europe or the United Arab Emirates – there is a possibility the international federation will sanction Australia for withdrawing so late.

    No update on synagogue firebomb

    Meanwhile the investigation into the synagogue fire continues to be investigated by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

    “At this stage there’s no further update and the investigation remains ongoing,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

    The Australian Federal Police, which stood up a special operation – Avalite – to investigate anti-Semitism, echoed the Victorian response.

    “The AFP has no update at this stage and further comment will be made at an appropriate time,” a spokesperson said.

    Interestingly, the cancellation of the world ice hockey championships is part of a very small collection of Australian events ditched since the October 7 attacks: the Palestine Film Festival was cancelled; an Australian business delegation cancelled its conference (in Israel); and Myer cancelled the unveiling event of its Christmas window displays in November.

    Questions were put to Ice Hockey Australia and the International Ice Hockey Federation, but neither have responded before deadline. 

    —–

    The text of the confidential eMail sent by Ryan O’Handley below. Optional extra/attachment to which you might want to link.

    “Subject: STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL – Update on Hosting World Men’s Championship in Melbourne 

    30 Dec 2024

    Hello everyone, 

    Earlier today, correspondence was sent to the IIHF Council stating that we will be unable to host the 2025 WM Div II World Championships due to safety and security concerns associated with Israel as a participant. As you are all well aware, anti-Israel protests and activities have escalated significantly since we were awarded with the Championship and there are now significant concerns regarding safety and security of the event. In mid-October, Victoria Police advised us that there was a high chance of an incident occurring during the Championship due to the escalating anti-Israel sentiment in Melbourne. By the end of October, the venue and the District Docklands precinct also expressed their concerns to us regarding the safety and security of the event. This prompted us to begin correspondence with the IIHF regarding these concerns and the escalating anti-Israel activities in Melbourne. Then, as you are all likely aware, there was an arson attack on a Synagogue in Melbourne on December 6th. Subsequent discussions with the venue and precinct occurred, along with a thorough risk assessment and consideration of all of our options. It was concluded just prior to Christmas that we could not host due to significant safety and security risks associated with Israel’s participation. I want to emphasize that this decision is not politically motivated. We have a good relationship with the Israel Ice Hockey Federation and have participated with them in many IIHF divisions without any issues. Our decision is based entirely on the fact that the safety and security of participants, the venue and precinct staff, and the general public cannot be assured to a reasonable level due to the current environment in Melbourne. The IIHF Council will meet December 29th and determine how to proceed. In my discussions with them so far, they have been very appreciative that we have brought the issues to them promptly and very supportive of the situation. It is my understanding that they will offer the hosting rights to another country in our division in the first instance and they have not suggested we will be sanctioned in any way. Our organizing committee has been working extremely hard and we were all excited to be hosting for the first time since 2011. However, the safety and security of our athletes, volunteers and hosting partners is our primary concern. As always, feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns. Please keep this information confidential until the IIHF makes a decision and we can issue a public statement.

    Best regards, 

    Ryan 

    Ryan O’Handley 

    President / Director

    The man who won’t lie down: Australian ice hockey still getting snowed

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • BHP's Mr Arthur thermal coal mine

    Despite the outcry from Big Coal, the government’s Same Job Same Pay laws are derailing the ‘labour hire scam’. But, as Michael West reports, BHP’s wage theft cover-up continues.

    The clean-up operation was swift and silent. In the shadows of Christmas, the Fair Work Commission granted secrecy orders to BHP, the unions, and a gaggle of its labour hire companies.

    “The Fair Work Commission had asked for all the financial documents, the contracts between BHP and its labour hire companies,” says coal miner Simon Turner, who has been in dispute with the parties for the best part of a decade. But these orders mean ‘let’s keep it in-house, only the Commission and the parties can see it’. That means that all the union members paying their money can’t see anything. How do they know they are getting represented fairly?”

    And there are plenty of ‘parties’. Besides the lawyers for BHP, the Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU post split) and a myriad of labour hire companies, are the lawyers for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt.

    Fair Work Commission email disclosures

    Fair Work Commission email disclosures

    The retinue of blue chip law firms: Freehills, Mallesons, Holding Redlich, HFW and Minters show the big end of town is throwing a lot of money at shutting down public visibility of the contracts between BHP and its satellite of unions and labour hire firms.

    Why? BHP and other big coal miners such as Peabody, Glencore and Rio have deployed labour hire companies to short-change their workers, with the cognisance, says Turner, of the union since 2010. Under the Black Coal Award, casual labour is not permitted. So the labour hire companies were used by the mining corporations to legally distance themselves, defuse their risk to legal claims, for underpayment of wages.

    “We should have been paid, from 2014 onwards, $137k a year under the Black Coal Award, but we were being paid $60k. That was while I was going to work at the Mt Arthur mine. While I was on workers comp, it was $400 a week – $20k a year. They could not have done this without labour hire because BHP’s Enterprise Agreements don’t allow casual employment.”

    The former coal miner from Newcastle broke his back in a workplace accident at Mt Arthur in 2015 and has been fighting for compensation ever since, although yet to no avail.

    Same Job, Lame Pay: BHP and the black coal wage swindle

     

    The Labor government knew the wage theft was a problem and moved to legislate its ‘Same Job Same Pay laws when it came into office. However, they are retrospective. So, those coal workers who were employed as casuals on a fraction of the Black Coal Award, remain underpaid.

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    Turner estimates the cost of the wage theft at around $2.5B. “There were thousands of workers employed – from 2010 onwards – as casuals.

    “We all worked the same full-time hours, whether directly employed by BHP or other. I was employed under the Award but they don’t want that out because it shows that every deal the union (MEU) approved was under the award value. Every labour hire mining agreement was below the award value.

    “We know from previous FWC decisions that (labour hire firm) Chandler Macleod was making $1k per person per week. While i was working, BHP was paying them (labour hire) $2,500 per person per week a week and we would get $1k less – roughly $1,500 less tax.

    “When the EAs were done the union would negotiate it with Chandler Macleod (or other labour hire firms). Not BHP. But they had to know what the BHP contract price was because if it was a true EA which was above the Award then BHP would have to pay more.”

    It is the details of these contracts which have been buried by the FWC confidentiality orders.

    “Why would BHP not just do it themselves? It’s the filter between them and legal action. BHP says we have no control over Chandler Macleod [and other labour hire firms]? Because the contract between BHP and Chandler Macleod [and other labour hire] mandates casual employment.”

    Two other interesting points about the FWC confidentiality orders: they show that the minister is intervening as a party to the secrecy, and secondly that two of the labour hire firms mentioned in the orders are actually owned by BHP itself.  

    Black Hole: CFMEU, governments, BHP, black coal giants in $2.5B worker wage swindle

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • Anthony Albanese at AICC Summit. Image: AICC

    Blue chip business lobby the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce is associated with funding illegal settlements in Israel and sponsorships by notorious Elbit Systems whose weapons are deployed in war crimes. Yaakov Aharon reports.

    Israel’s “innovation ecosystem will be supercharged” by the war, Dave Sharma said. Indeed, the bloody rubble of Gaza has been a human testing ground for drones and all manner of new military technologies.

    Sharma, the Liberal Party senator and former ambassador to Israel, was addressing corporate moguls at the 2024 summit of the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (AICC). 

    The Chamber is, perhaps with the exception of the Business Council of Australia, this country’s preeminent big business lobby; holding regular junkets, summits at lunches at ritzy five-star hotel ballrooms where business leaders deliver their speeches before packed audiences spending thousands of dollars per table.

    It is the premier networking organisation for Israel in Australia and high-tech is at the vanguard of the lobbying. The ‘Start-Up Nation’ begins with the Israel Defence Force’s (IDF) intelligence units.

    While the soldiers are given unlimited access to the army’s deep pockets and free reign to innovate, the subjects of the experiments are the Palestinian people. And the illegal military occupation of Palestinian land is being richly monetised.

    The Chamber’s role in this is to showcase military products on Australian shores where they are marketed as “battle-hardened”

    AICC sponsors include Elbit Systems, Israel's leading weapon-maker

    AICC sponsors include Elbit Systems, Israel’s leading weapon-maker

    AICC media-hungry yet shy about their member list

    The Chamber’s objective is to promote collaboration between the two countries. It describes itself as “Australia’s pre-eminent international Chamber of Commerce and one of the country’s most prestigious and active national business organisations”, with over 1,000 member companies.

    Despite its sizeable media presence, finding public information about AICC proved difficult.

    There are at least 9 AICC ABNs according to the ASIC database, but the profiles rarely interlink with ASIC Connect, nor do they show up easily in searches. Often their ASIC profile lacks basic compliance like a ‘company extract’.

    The Chamber’s website disclosures also lack these details.

    The majority of AICC businesses, including the NSW Division, are membership-based body corporates. So they are tax exempt.

    The AICC NSW Division is one primary AICC entity. It’s is formerly known as – and simply trades as – the name AICC, has three separate ACNs, and hosts the annual summit.

    It is standard for business councils to list their members. The Business Council of Australia and Minerals Council of Australia do this, but the AICC does not.

    Much of the Chamber’s website has been scrubbed since the outbreak of the war in late 2023, specifically the defence industry sponsorships. 

    However, it would be unusual for a business council to be handing out free favours. The allure of membership and sponsorship of the Chamber includes invitations to its prestigious events and junkets, and an expectation that your business’s interests will be represented and advanced. 

    A ‘non-political’ organisation

    The AICC 2023 summit. L-R Jillian Segal, Mark Dreyfus, Mark Leibler, Anthony Albanese. Source: Twitter

    The AICC 2023 summit. L-R Jillian Segal, Mark Dreyfus, Mark Leibler, Anthony Albanese. Source: Twitter

    While the Chamber describes itself as non-political, it achieves its objective of advancing business alongside cultural and social outcomes through “connecting ideas, knowledge and people.”

    Every living Australian prime minister has addressed the Chamber multiple times, while Israeli president Isaac Herzog addressed the summit in 2021 and 2022.

    Fundamentally, however, the ‘non-political’ Chamber promotes continuing trade with a pariah and rogue state.

    The International Court of Justice has determined that Israel racially dominates Palestinians with a two-tiered legal system, has continuously and illegally annexed Palestinian land, and is plausibly committing genocide.

    In July 2024, the Court ruled that member states are to “abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel … which may entrench its unlawful presence in [Palestinian] territory”.

    But Israel’s national identity is its military power. Its national exports are the tools of the military occupation. To a hammer, everything is a nail.

    Funding illegal settlements

    For example, the AICC’s associate the Israel-Australia Chamber of Commerce (IACC) directs 35% of its funds to government districts with illegal settlements. Its chair is (ret) Major General Ido Nehushtan, a former commander of the Israeli Air Force, and currently engaged in the arms trade as president of Boeing Israel and a consultant for Elbit Systems.

    According to the Israeli Ministry of Defence, the arms industry makes up 10% of Israeli exports.

    A submission by the AICC to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade noted that a further 10% of exports are related to cybersecurity. 

    The submission urged a Free Trade Agreement with Israel, arguing it would “increase defence cooperation” and citing the example of the Australian-Israeli joint venture Rafael Varley Group’s Spike LR2 missiles.

    When then-Minister of Defence Christopher Pyne addressed the AICC in 2018 he delivered a comprehensive outline of the bilateral arms trade, including the same Rafael Varley missiles.

    The former minister, who is known for his sense of humour, opened his speech with a joke: AICC chairperson Jillian Segal “always seems to be following me around”, gets “a lot of good information out of me”, and it is important to stay on her “good side”.

    The military mindset

    Unit 8200 in action. Source: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

    Unit 8200 in action. Source: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

    The 2024 AICC Summit’s headliner was AICC patron saint NYT bestselling author Saul Singer. His book “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Miracle’ is Israel’s adopted bible for whitewashing war crimes with feel-good capitalism.

    In the book, Singer quotes an IDF intelligence officer:

    “In Israel, one’s academic past is somehow less important than the military past. One of the questions asked in every job interview is where did you serve in the army?”

    The driving force behind many Israeli start-ups – least of all the defence and cybersecurity industry – is the signals intelligence Unit 8200, equivalent to the USA’s National Security Agency or the Australian Signals Directorate.

    AICC chairperson and Special Envoy To Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal led a junket in 2022, where they “saw the impact of an Army system which enabled a mindset of accountability and responsibility … [particularly] the elite Unit 8200.”

    This year’s Summit promoted a speaker as a former Unit colonel.

    The Unit is equipped with nearly unlimited access to the military budget with minimal oversight provided by commanders. 

    The IDF’s AI ‘kill list’

    The latest hotshot project of 8200 is AI-generated kill lists. The Lavender program deems Palestinians as ‘terrorists’ according to a point-ranked system and feeds those lists to the army’s drone operators.

    If a low-ranking private has an opportunity to kill a Palestinian on the list it is considered an order as if given by a commanding officer, even if dozens of civilian deaths are inevitable.

    The Lavender kill list often feeds into the ‘Where’s Daddy?’ AI program, which notifies Israeli drone operators when a person on the kill list is most vulnerable to a drone strike: the moment they are at home with their children.

    Antony Loewenstein writes in his book, The Palestine Laboratory, that “8200 watches every Palestinian, regardless of their involvement in the resistance”.

    The Unit can eavesdrop on any phone call, SMS, and email in Palestine. When the messages reveal a personal secret – closeted sexual identity, an extramarital affair, or an invisible illness – 8200 sees it as a tool for blackmailing a potential informant.

    Essentially, Loewenstein writes, 8200 marks IDF’s targets; who by fire, and who by blackmail.

    Monetising the Occupation

    Many of the Unit’s ventures are taken by recent graduates straight into the private sector. 

    80% of alumni are offered jobs three months before finishing their service, job offers can read “meant for 8200 alumni”, and alumni earn 20% more than the industry average. 

    Cybersecurity start-ups that promote themselves as having been founded by alumni from 8200 and other intelligence units feature prominently among AICC’s past and present sponsors. They include CISCO, Votiro, Skylight Cyber, Cyberark, Check Point, Claroty, Nice, Orca Security, Razorlabs, Wix, and Wiz.

    Other defence industry sponsors include Elbit, Elbit Systems of Australia (ELSA), Forcepoint, El Al, and drone-maker Aerobotics.

    The Israeli company Cisco has been among the Chamber’s most dedicated and consistent sponsors for over a decade. It also has multiple $100m contracts with the IDF, seven hubs in Israel’s illegal settlements, and has installed 10,000 CCTV cameras around Jerusalem, including occupied East Jerusalem.

    Aerobotics, also Israeli-owned, ensures a constant presence of ‘large’ surveillance drones over civilian Palestinian areas, preempting an attack, and readying to provide the IDF with the critical information. It has recently fast-tracked the development of its Iron Drone Raider in response to escalating war.

    Victoria invests

    The former Chairperson of Young AICC Brad Gofman (2016-2024) simultaneously managed Invest Victoria projects in UK, Europe, and Israel (2018-present). 

    Invest Victoria opened an office in Tel Aviv in 2017 through an exclusive agreement with the IACC and the AICC, who ‘deliver services’ of their sponsor Elbit Systems to the office. 

    A pair of ‘Victoria-Israel Defence Industry Opportunities Webinars’ in 2020 were co-promoted by the IACC, Israel’s Ministry of Defence, and Invest Victoria.

    In 2021 Elbit Systems of Australia (ELSA) returned the favour, setting up an office in Melbourne. For a short time afterward, Gofman managed the defence policy for Invest Victoria.

    Weeks later, Australia’s Army HQ directed the Department of Defence to cease using Elbit’s command and control system, claiming the Israeli company had designed a backdoor through which they could spy on and access the computers.

    More recently, in April it was an Elbit Hermes 450 drone that murdered Australian Zomi Frankcom and six other World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza. The drone hunted the aid worker’s cars down as they traveled along an IDF-approved route, switching cars three times in an attempt to shake the drone off.

    Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, Future Fund, did their best to hide that they had invested heavily in arms dealers, including Elbit which made a 172% return.

    AICC has also been addressed by then-Future Fund chairman, David Gonski, and by current head of private equity, Alicia Gregory. In 2017, Gonski went back for seconds, taking Future Fund director Michael Wachtel on an AICC junket to Israel.

    A junket sweetens the network

    In the first half of this year alone, the AICC had organised seven delegations to travel to Israel. Every AICC junket involves at least one geopolitical briefing.

    Australia’s former spy boss David Irvine led the AICC Security Delegation to meet with his Israeli counterparts in 2016. Irvine was then-chair of the Cyber Security Research Centre (CSRC) – which sits within the Australian Signals Directorate – and a former head of ASIO (2009-2014) and ASIS (2003-2009).

    The junket was addressed by think-tank analyst Efraim Inbar on the topic of How He Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Inbar has consistently called for Israel – which illegally owns nuclear weapons itself – to be on the aggressive front foot in preventing Iran’s nuclear program. “With each day,” he wrote in 2006, “Iran grows closer to acquiring nuclear weapons.” 

    Irvine’s successor at the CSRC, Abigail Bradshaw, addressed the 2020 Summit, before rising the ranks to become boss of the Australian Signals Directorate.

    In 2014, when Jillian Segal was a new director at both AICC and the National Bank of Australia (NAB), the AICC organised the bank’s Israel junket.

    The delegation met with Carmi Gilon, the former head of Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet, who had fled Denmark only months before, fearing his arrest for torturing Palestinian detainees.

    The former IDF chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, also met with the NAB junket, despite that he was laying low following a Turkish court having issued international warrants for his arrest. It was alleged that Ashkenazi was responsible for a 2010 incident, where the IDF murdered nine activists onboard an aid flotilla headed for Gaza.

    Spying on single mums

    Cellebrite’s HQ shares sponsors with AICC: Cyberark and Intel. Source: Jack Guez/AFP

    Cellebrite’s HQ shares sponsors with AICC: Cyberark and Intel. Source: Jack Guez/AFP

    The IACC sent a delegation of its members to the 2020 Summit which included Cellebrite’s Australian sales rep.

    Cellebrite is a multi-billion dollar Israeli spyware company founded by 8200 alumni. It specialises in cracking phone passwords from afar, extracting data and GPS tracking, and reading deleted messages on encrypted apps like Signal.

    The company has signed 160 contracts with the Australian government.

    ITnews reported that Services Australia and the Department of Education had used it to spy on single mothers receiving Centrelink payments.

    What’s the scam?

    In March, while the Government was downplaying its trade and military connections with Israel, the AICC moved offices to an upgraded suite in Westfield, a premium is one of AICC”s most committed sponsors. The Chamber’s 2023 Financial Report, submitted in April, reads:

    “There was a major terrorist incident in Israel on the 7th of October 2023 which has resulted in a war which could escalate further. The ongoing effect of the crisis on the Chamber’s operations cannot be ascertained at this time.

    Subsequent to year end, the Chamber moved offices and incurred expenses of approximately $100,000. A grant application will be made in respect of the security component of these expenses which were approximately $70,000 and the Directors expect that the grant may cover some or all of the security expenses.”

    Jillian Segal’s many hats: Special Envoy for Antisemitism and Israel lobbyist extraordinaire

    This post was originally published on Michael West.

  • East Germany's Lusation Lakes district. Image: Hunter Lakes Corporation

    BHP whistleblower James Joseph has come forward with a raft of allegations against the Big Australian, one of which he says exposes clandestine negotiations with former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to turn Hunter Valley coal mines into lakes. Michael West reports.

    “I’d be very careful if I was you”. BHP whistleblower James Joseph was warned on the afternoon of June 5, 2024 by a fellow BHP executive about coming forward with allegations against his company, implicating BHP’s most senior executives and directors. 

    A year prior, Joseph had come forward with a litany of allegations against The Big Australian; from corporate malfeasance and competition law breaches to the cover-up of investigations, bullying and harassment and failing to report serious injury to the NSW safety regulator in accordance with mining regulations.

    This follows news earlier this month of a class action by Jan Saddler’s law firm against BHP and Rio Tinto for widespread sexual harassment in the workplace which alleges the companies used confidentiality agreements to stop female employees from speaking about sexual harassment at work.

    Instead of being protected as a whistleblower however, the 39-year old HR executive endured what he describes as “extreme retaliation”: death threats, a break-in at his home, the ‘cold shoulder’ at work, a large number of job declines for lesser positions, withholding of urgent medical care and relentless workplace and legal bullying. It is the sort of payback familiar to other whistleblowers who have chosen to come forward.

    There is no allegation here that BHP itself was specifically involved in these acts. The ecosystem of Big Coal is expansive, embracing a satellite of corporations, unions, lobby groups, labour hire companies and insurers. And at a time when the coal sector is in the twilight of its existence, the vested interests are as powerful as ever.

    Black Hole: CFMEU, governments, BHP, black coal giants in $2.5B worker wage swindle

    In his last 6 months of employment, James Joseph was even instructed to only speak to BHP legal representatives (Herbert Smith Freehills), who took over the handling of the ‘Ethics Point Investigation’ into his allegations. 

    “It was a completely unheard of approach,” he says. As an HR boss himself, the most senior in NSW, Joseph was well acquainted with the tactics of corporations managing prickly situations with employees. “I had led 200 investigations himself in various roles with BHP”. 

    He had recorded, and agonised over reporting the myriad of breaches as a whistleblower for some time but it was a private visit to the Mt Arthur mine site by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in December 2022 which he says was the final straw.

    The Turnbull visit

    “The straw that broke the camel’s back was the Turnbull visit. Alarm bells started going off. Confidential visits on a mine site do not exist; everything needs to be logged in the operational visitor log book. I realised it was untoward when a fellow colleague expressed their concern about knowledge of the visit ever ‘getting out’.”

    There is no allegation here of wrongdoing by Turnbull. He is a private citizen, an investor pursuing a corporate deal with BHP. Rather, it was the failure by the mining giant to adhere to its own safety regulations which concerned Joseph.

    Malcolm Turnbull with BHP executive Sarah Bailey - Manager Approvals, Land, Access, Heritage & Environment

    Malcolm Turnbull at Balmoral Beach with BHP executive Sarah Bailey – Manager Approvals, Land, Access, Heritage & Environment

    Mining companies take safety seriously. “They are strict,” he told MWM. “If there is an explosion, a wall collapse, fire, flooding or any type of accident at a mine site, the company is accountable. It has to account for everybody on site. So the concept of an undisclosed visit … we should never have them”.

    From conversations with his peers, Joseph subsequently became aware that BHP was in negotiations with Turnbull over a plan for energy transition at Mt Arthur, one of the largest coal mines in the country. At that time the modification was yet to be submitted to the NSW Planning Dept. 

    Mt Arthur and Hunter Lakes

    The mooted project is vast, a plan to turn the mine into lakes and deploy pumped hydro along with solar and wind farms to transition the coal mine into an enormous renewable energy hub. If it proceeds, it may be the biggest infrastructure in Australian history. The secrecy worried Joseph too. Malcolm Turnbull has a property in the vicinity but BHP does not own the land; it is a mining lease, and there is no talk of a tender.

    Located just south of Musselbrook in the Hunter Valley, Mt Arthur is the biggest coal mine in NSW, stretching 7,000 hectares, churning out some $2B a year in income from thermal coal alone, exporting 15,000 tonnes of coal. 

    BHP whistleblower James Joseph

    BHP whistleblower James Joseph

    Due to close in 2030, the BHP board and management have been deliberating about the future of the site, as has the entire industry, amid the inexorable transition to renewables. This is no secret, but what is a secret is the actual plan for the multi-billion-dollar mine site rehabilitation.

    The pumped hydro plan has been mooted to the local community, that is to turn the Hunter into lakes, and fill the residual mining voids with water. But it is not just about renewable energy. The lakes could be recreational too, a tourist attraction with water skiing and boating.

    It is a similar project to what is happening in East Germany where old coal district of north-eastern Saxony is becoming the largest chain of artificial lakes in Europe.

    Why the secrecy?

    But the issue according to Joseph is the secrecy, planning sequencing and suspiciously termed ‘community consultation’. There is no tender, no modification approval (yet), no finalised public proposal. But apparently there is a lot going on behind the scenes. And here is the rub.

    Concerned about proper process, Joseph came forward with his allegations. “And what happened? I went home for the weekend and spoke to my wife about it, and others. And I knew that if I didn’t blow the whistle, I was as bad as them. I just thought it was shady”.

    He believes the board of BHP must have approved the plan. “We can’t prove that but it is in their Risk & Audit Committee charter [approving site visits] who, would you believe it, is also the same committee that overseas Whistleblower reports. 

    Even a colleague who shared the office next to Joseph urged him to inform her if he blew the whistle saying “James if you do report it, let me know, there are a few ‘higher ups’ I will need to inform”. Joseph never spoke to this colleague again (and now is forbidden to) under legal instruction.

    “A BHP Asset President would never bring a VIP like Turnbull onto site without higher ranking executives being aware because it would constitute a breach of conflict of interest (policy). The Board would probably be involved,” he says.

    BHP’s Beijing scandal

    “Why Board level? In 2015, we got done for corrupt dealings in regard to our foreign government dealings, associated with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [It was a breach of] the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”

    The Beijing saga was a global embarrassment for the mining giant. The company was hit with a $US25m fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bribery scandal occurred under then chief executive Marius Kloppers. BHP had treated 60 government officials and their spouses to luxury hotel accommodation at the Beijing Olympics – most of them from Asia and Africa – in an attempt to entice foreign government and regulatory approval for mining projects.   

    Kloppers’ successor Andrew Mackenzie had to clean up the mess and expressed deep regret. “That was 7 years later,” says Joseph. And the aftermath left BHP scarred, and particularly sensitive to reputation damage.

    “[As a result] they set up the Risk & Audit Committee specifically to deal with these matters – to demonstrate to the market that they were on top of it. The committee has experienced almost complete turnover over the course of Joseph’s internal investigation, and is now chaired by former KPMG Audit executive, Michelle Hinchliffe. 

    Joseph claims the investigation has not been properly executed. “Key witnesses were never interviewed”, he says. “It was a cover-up”.

    “BHP’s charter says any government official or VIP must be approved for site visits. At the time Turnbull was also a board member at Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Future Industries, he was later appointed chair of International Hydropower Association and is a former Prime Minister, indeed the political architect of the troubled Snowy Hydro 2.0 project. He clearly should have been approved for a site visit”.

    Turnbull stepped down from the board of the Fortescue subsidiary in January 2023. Did Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest know of the BHP visit? This is unclear. And if so, was Fortescue involved in the BHP plan for this new energy transition? 

    Did they know a whistleblower might come forward? Joseph had come forward internally  prior to the community engagement sessions, prior to the modification application (submitted 14 months later), and only three weeks after a visit of NSW Minister Courtney Houssos to Mt Arthur. 

    Biggest project in Australia’s history?

    The sheer scale of the proposed transition deal makes it a sensitive issue. If you use Snowy Hydro as an example, that’s already at $12B from original price estimates of $2B.

    Then there is the immense regulatory challenge; the environmental and First Nations’ approvals which would be required to flood the area, potentially putting indigenous heritage under water. The community engagement feedback seems to be a mixed bag. 

    James Joseph knew in April 2023 that confidential pumped hydro talks were underway. “I was accountable for shaping the NSW workforce strategy as HR manager and I was kept in the dark. Now I know why they never wanted to have this conversation or share the information with myself and other managers, because what they were doing was questionable – amounting potentially to competition breaches.”

    Then there is the political sensitivity. China is at the vanguard of pumped hydro technology yet the political implications of doing such a large deal with the Chinese, let alone any foreign group, are significant. China already has its foot on a lot of assets in the Hunter Valley including mining and wineries.

    BHP has significant sway with the Coalition and Turnbull has cultivated strong ties with Labor and is a major new energy investor so a joint venture is plausible.

    But for expert opinion

    Ecologist and water scientist Peter Hughes says the Lakes proposal is a pipe-dream, at least the recreational part. 

    “With the Lakes proposal and the use of the mine voids, I’ve reviewed at least 4 proposals and every few years the NSW Minerals Council does a report. There is no new data. I’ve seen proposals that all of the mine voids can be used. It’s not viable for any recreational use and never will be.

    “The groundwater in the Hunter is highly saline and very high in heavy metals. It’s highly toxic for animals. I’ve written letters to them explaining this to them. In Germany it is different. The groundwater must be much cleaner, and there’s high rainfall.

    Hughes, who worked 25 years with the NSW EPA and done Environmental Impact assessments on every coal mine in the Hunter Valley and written most of the Environment Protection Licences.

    “There is potential for pumped hydro. There was a CSIRO report into the potential for pumped hydro which found it plausible. All you need is a hill more than 100m high. We’ve put the kibosh on the recreational proposal at least four times. Pumped hydro is potentially viable but they have a major problem with it – the water quality. The water is highly corrosive which would clog up the machinery. So technically I think it is unlikely.

    “I would say they are trying it on again. They have probably submitted again to the EPA but it’s a dog with fleas.”

    To ever get it approved, says Hughes, they would have to get DA consent under EP&A Act, an Environment Protection Licence from the EPA, Water Access Licenses under Water Management Act, and possibly Aboriginal relic destruction licences from NPWS.

    To make the water quality viable, what they would have to do is put it through a purification plant before they pump it back up the hill to the turbine. We are talking about a reverse osmosis desalination plant which is extremely expensive and power hungry. It could eat up the majority of the power which the pumped hydro plant is producing.

    It’s an uphill battle. And not just for BHP but all the Hunter Valley mines. “This is why they have been quietly trying to sell their mines,” says Peter Hughes. “The license says that they have to return the land to its pre-mining state. This is an enormous impediment; it involves billions in rehabilitation costs.

    “This is why they keep running it up the flagpole”. It allows them to go into negotiations with buyers and say we have got all the NSW ministers on board. This guy (James Joseph), it’s no wonder they didn’t want him around”.

    This post was originally published on Michael West.


  • This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Seg1 musk trump

    After the Republican-led Congress passes a government spending bill but rejects a last-minute demand for a debt limit suspension from President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk, we look at the richest man in the world’s growing influence, with The American Prospect editor Robert Kuttner. “At the end of the day, Musk got exactly what he wanted,” says Kuttner, referring to Musk’s influence in the removal of an anti-China trade provision in the bill. “It’s a classic case of Musk rolling Trump. … I don’t think this is going to end well.”


    This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.