The letter is published amid escalating tension as the Australian National University confronts extraordinary pressure from the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, Treasurer, Joe Hockey, Education Minister, Christopher Pyne, and The Australian Financial Review to recant on its decision to screen out a handful of mining companies based on their social and environmental impact.
It also follows Sydney University’s August announcement that it would “make no further investments in the coal and consumable fuels subsector of the ASX” while it conducted a review of its investment policies.
“Regardless of this high-level bullying it is clear the broader community still believes universities, churches, superannuation industry funds and mum and dad investors have the right to invest their money in a way that sees good returns and does not compromise their personal values,” said Greenpeace Climate & Energy Campaigner, Nikola Casule.
“With Sydney Uni’s history of excellence in education and scholarship, it should not come as a surprise to anyone that students past and present feel passionately about the need to invest in smart, dynamic and responsible companies. Given its track record of environmental destruction and its operations’ contribution to dangerous global warming, that obviously excludes Whitehaven Coal,” said Casule.
The letter to Dr Spence says the University’s one million dollar investment in Whitehaven Coal: directly contravenes the University’s own Investment Policy which states that funds must be invested in accordance with Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance principles.
An investment in Whitehaven Coal also flies in the face of your own personal commitments to seizing the ‘opportunity to appreciate the richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture as part of their story and identity’. The Maules Creek mine site contains dozens of sites of cultural significance to the Gomeroi traditional owners, including scar trees and burial sites. Some of these sites have already been destroyed by Whitehaven Coal to make way for the Maules Creek mine and more remain at risk.
“We join with Sydney University’s alumni and call on the University to make smart decisions and invest in accord with its stated commitments to ethical investment practice and environmental sustainability. Now is not the time to give in to the bullying of all those with a vested interest in the coal industry,” concluded Casule.
Sydney, Wednesday 22nd October: Over 400 Sydney University alumni have today published an open letter in the University’s paper, Honi Soit, calling on Vice Chancellor Michael Spence to uphold the reputation of Sydney University and sell all of the University’s shares in fossil fuel company Whitehaven Coal (WHC).