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EFIC's new Environment and Social Policy brings welcome changes

Tue, 10 May 2011 01:35:00 GMT

Last week Australia’s export credit agency, EFIC, released the updated version of its Policy for Environmental and Social Review of Transactions. Jubilee’s long-term engagement in monitoring the activity of EFIC, and our continued calls for greater transparency paid dividends when the launch confirmed the adoption of new reporting and auditing procedures that go a considerable way to making the agency’s decisions more accessible and accountable to the public, including a commitment to arrange an independent audit of its adherence to the Policy every two years by an independent expert.

The updated Policy and Procedure launched on May 4, sets out how EFIC will review export finance applications for likely social and environmental impacts. When an Australian exporter applies to EFIC for financial assistance, whether the company is seeking a loan, guarantee or other such product to assist it in winning business in an overseas markets, EFIC is obliged to review the application for its likely social and environmental impacts, thanks to efforts by campaigners in Australia to make sure EFIC adopted an Environment Policy back in 2000. Given that EFIC financing of mines and other extractive projects in the Pacific and Africa is on the increase, this process is of vital importance, especially for communities living in surrounding areas, whose very livelihoods are affected by these projects.

In 2010 EFIC undertook a review of its Environment Policy, coinciding with the release of Jubilee’s Risky Business report (December 2009) case studying EFIC involvement in the gold mine in Solomon Islands and the PNG LNG project. The report successfully drew the attention of other civil society groups, individuals, academics and members of parliament to the high stakes of EFIC finance decisions for communities in the Pacific.

As part of the Review, EFIC considered the views of civil society organisations including Jubilee Australia and Oxfam Australia. EFIC even agreed to host a full day independently facilitated workshop in December 2010 to discuss CSO recommendations.

“We congratulate EFIC on making changes to the Policy and Procedure for Environmental and Social Review of transactions that demonstrate a genuine intention to find a more appropriate balance between public accountability and the commercial interests of Australian corporations,” said Adele Webb, Jubilee Australia Director.

“Looking to the future, there is still more work to be done by governments around the world, including Australia, to ensure their national export credit agencies do not facilitate irreversible environmental damage, social unrest and the violation of human rights in less-developed countries.”

Landmark UK law against 'Vulture Funds' made permanent

Sun, 01 May 2011 06:09:00 GMT

Last month, the UK government made permanent its landmark law to protect the poorest countries in the world from profiteering by so-called vulture funds (more from Jubilee Debt Campaign UK).

Vulture Funds sue some of the world's poorest countries for full repayment of debts they buy up cheaply. In April 2010 an Act of Parliament - the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act - was passed which restricts the ability of Vulture Funds to sue the poorest countries in UK courts, a favourite jurisdiction of the funds. The Act represents the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and attracted cross-party support in the UK.

Without such legislation enacted in Australia, these so called ‘Vulture Funds’ are free to profiteer from poor country debts in our courts. Last year one did just that in New South Wales.

The global financial crisis has exposed an international financial system that urgently needs cleaning up. Combating Vulture Funds is a practical first step toward a global economy that works for the majority of people, not a small number of unethical investors.

Learn more, and do something to help Jubilee Australia Stop the Debt Vultures.

Download FACT SHEET: VULTURE FUNDS

European debt crisis urges a reexamination of sovereign debt management

Sun, 01 May 2011 04:49:00 GMT

As a series of bailout packages have been negotiated with Greece, Ireland and soon Portugal, it is time to examine the global orthodoxy in dealing with debt. In mid-May a bailout, expected to equal approximately €80 billion, with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, is set to be agreed upon with Portugal. The package will see ordinary people bear the greater burden of reform as a program of shock therapy, involving large spending cuts, tax increases and labour market reforms, is introduced. Those banks largely responsible for the reckless private lending which spawned the current crisis are set to be the largest benefactors.

Increasing resistance to the bailouts has been felt across Europe as nationals express their opposition to paying for the excesses of their banking elite. In Iceland, voters recently rejected a government-backed deal to repay Britain and the Netherlands following the collapse of Icelandic banks in 2008. The decision will not be without consequence for the country, which faces an impending court case by the UK and the Netherlands, the potential block to its bid to join the European Union and a lowering of its credit rating on international markets. In Greece, hundreds of academics, politicians and activists have called for a debt audit commission to examine the legitimacy of the country’s debt, in the hope of holding to account those responsible.

The European debt crisis points to a greater systemic problem of dealing with debt. Across the Global South, the IMF has repeatedly negotiated ‘emergency’ packages, which have seen foreign banks bailed out, while the governments themselves spiral down deeper into debt, at great cost to citizens who had nothing to do with causing the crisis. The European crisis is an opportunity for leaders to challenge the global mechanism for dealing with debt. Our attention is on these leaders as developments continue to unfold.

PNG LNG latest: Construction works forge ahead despite tensions and allegations of corruption

Sun, 01 May 2011 04:37:00 GMT

Controversy surrounding the PNG LNG project is intensifying with heightened security threats, unfulfilled landowner contracts and allegations of corruption causing increased tensions.

On April 12, security concerns were raised by the shooting of an expatriate Australian Oil Search employee at the Kutubu oil fields in the Southern Highland province. The expatriate was driving along the access routes to the project site when he was fired upon by thugs hiding in the bushes. The incident has raised alarm over the security of staff and management of Oil Search, which operates both the Kutubu and the neighbouring Hides gas fields.

Tensions in the region have also been high over failure to deliver long-promised catering and maintenance contracts, as well as outstanding payments to landowners. In late March, a landowners’ protest forced work at the Hides 4 site to be shut down. Further disruptions have been threatened unless contracts are negotiated. Outstanding payments of K170 million to landowners for business development grants, ministerial commitments and infrastructural grants have also led to work stoppages at Hides 1. In February, tensions peaked when over 100 landowners stormed Vulupindi Haus in Port Moresby demanding the government pay outstanding business development grants owed to them. Three Petroleum and Energy department officials were held hostage for half an hour before police intervened to rescue them.

A mediation process between Esso Highlands Ltd, a state team and landowners, examining the legality of the PNG LNG Agreement and the ownership of oil and gas resources is currently underway.

Rising tensions around the PNG LNG project have been accompanied by the added controversy surrounding the findings of official misconduct against Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. In late March Somare was found guilty of 13 charges of official misconduct after failing to lodge more than a decade’s worth of annual financial returns. The sentence, a 14-day suspension without pay, appears as little more than a ‘slap on the wrist’ for the incumbent PM. The Opposition has lashed out saying it is a mockery of the rule of law in PNG and gives confidence for others to follow suit.

More encouragingly, the PNG government has approved the establishment of a state working group to investigate the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The EITI is aimed at strengthening governance by providing greater transparency and accountability for receipts and payments associated with the extraction of oil, gas and other mineral resources. Jubilee Australia has been openly critical of the failure of the PNG government to sign the EITI, warning that until the EITI is signed, the positive economic and social projections around the LNG project will not be realised.

The LNG project is expected to deliver its first shipment of gas by late 2014. Current developments have seen the first foundations poured for the LNG Plant. As development progresses, Jubilee Ausralia will continue to monitor the situation and provide regular updates.

1000 economists write to G20 about Financial Transaction Tax

Mon, 09 May 2011 03:32:00 GMT

A thousand economists from 53 countries wrote to G20 Finance Ministers, who met in Washington in mid-April, to urge the adoption of a financial transaction tax.

Economists wrote: “The financial crisis has shown us the dangers of unregulated finance, and the link between the financial sector and society has been broken. It is time to fix this link and for the financial sector to give something back to society.”

Thirty Australian economists signed the letter, including Professors John Quiggin, Andrew McLennan, Geoff Harcourt, John Langmore and Ross Buckley. Professor John Quiggin was interviewed on World Today and Professor Ross Buckley published an article on The Conversation.

These Australian economists joined professors from many of the world’s leading universities, including Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, the Sorbonne, Berkeley and Kyoto, in signing the letter. Signatories include Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Colombia University and special advisor to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, Dani Rodrik, Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, Professor Ha Joon Chang from Cambridge and Christian Fauliau, a former World Bank senior economist.

Professor Sachs said: “It is time for the G20 to agree to a tax on financial transactions to help poor countries struggling with climate, food, and economic crises they did nothing to cause. The tax would also be a fair and efficient way to help close budget deficits in our own countries as well.”

For more on Robin Hood Tax see the Australian Coalition's website: www.robinhoodtax.org.au

Independent review of aid effectiveness

Sun, 01 May 2011 06:16:00 GMT

In February, we made a submission to the Independent review of aid effectiveness -highlighting (1) the potential for dominance of national interest agendas such as trade and investment policy and energy security in Australia’s aid program to directly and indirectly shift the institutional objectives of Australia’s aid program away from achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and (2) the need for the Australian government to have a clear framework and strategy to guide the aid funding it channels through the World Bank Group (WB) the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Parliamentary inquiry into Australia's relationship with the Countries of Africa

Sun, 01 May 2011 06:14:00 GMT

In December 2010, our Risky Business report (December 2009) along with a were presented to members of the Joint Standing Committee as part of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Australia’s Relationship with the Countries of Africa. We then gave evidence to MPs and Senators at a public hearing of the Inquiry in Sydney on 7 December, appearing on the schedule just before BHP Billiton and Australia’s export credit agency, EFIC. The transcript of the hearing is available to read on the Committee website.

Concerning signs for Papua New Guinea as LNG project looks back on its first year

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 03:56:00 GMT

One year on from the signing of Papua New Guinea’s largest ever extractive industry project, led by American giant Exxon Mobil and Australian partners Oil Search and Santos, the PNG LNG project has already been linked with a number of worrying incidents, including tribal conflict, local landowner unrest, alleged abuses by the companies involved, and concerns over transparency of government decisions. In recent weeks the project reached boiling point when landowners closed down gas plants and mobilised on project sites following increased discontent over their benefits payments. A National Court Judge has stepped in to stop all LNG payments from banks and to freeze all accounts relating to benefit agreements until proper and transparent processes are set up for the distribution of landowner payments. Jubilee Australia is concerned that this and a number of other developments during the first year of the project warrant serious examination, not least by the Australian government, which has helped finance the project through its largest ever export credit loan.

The national PNG Government, itself having gone through a complete upheaval in the last two months with its PM exiting and then abruptly returning to power, is responsible for a number of developments related to the LNG project. In October the PM confused onlookers by appointing a new minister to assist on the LNG project, only to dismiss him, and then re-appoint him, within a matter of weeks. There have been a number of public statements of concern over the LNG project by prominent PNG figures, including the former Attorney General, who claims that he was never properly consulted over the signing of the LNG deal in 2009. Media reports have also detailed accusations between the Cabinet and the former Police Commissioner in relation to LNG operations. Meanwhile, the government discovered that it did not have enough money in its budget to fund preliminary logistical and infrastructure needs related to the LNG project and had to rush through a supplementary budget mid year. Just some examples of the confusion surrounding government involvement in the LNG project.

While contracts have been awarded and construction has advanced, local landowners in project areas have become increasingly unsettled, with a number of work stoppages occurring throughout 2010 due to attacks on project sites and machinery, with the deaths of local people involved in the conflicts. Since the beginning of 2011, growing discontent in project areas surrounding the Hides gas conditioning plants in the Southern Highlands, has seen groups of landowners gather in their hundreds to stop work on project sites. The latest work stoppage on 22 January was led by an angry group of landowners who mobilised when a local boy lost his life after consuming a toxic substance obtained from one of the project sites. The Hides gas conditioning plant in the Southern Highlands currently remains closed with Exxon Mobil staff having been withdrawn from the site. The angry locals point to unfulfilled promises from the national government and local authorities, relating to benefit funds and business development grants they say they have not yet received. A number of landowner organisations are also asking questions about the payment of business development grants to a select number of landowner corporations that met with government officials in a resort near Port Moresby just after Christmas, rather than conducting a proper consultation process involving the larger group of landowners through the Departments of Petroleum and Energy and Commerce and Industry.

Media reports have cited the use of mobile unidentified police squads throughout projects sites, and proposals by authorities to establish a Special Operations Group for the LNG project. These developments are eerie reminders of the days of the Bougainville Copper project which saw a number of human rights violations against the local population at the hands of such mobile squads. A special feature story from Dateline in May 2010 reported one incident of local boys being taken away and beaten up by security forces, using a vehicle owned by Australian company Oil Search. In addition to these issues, wider concerns have arisen as to the effect of making large cash-payments to powerful males in various communities and the impact this has on exacerbating the causes of conflict and disputes between tribes, not to mention the impact on women which must be taken very seriously.

Local have reported feeling the effects of inflation on PNG’s economy, with prices for basic staples already being distorted and Port Moresby becoming prohibitively expensive. These and other developments provide cause for concern when predicting the long term effect of the LNG project.

Meanwhile, plans for the management of project revenues are being advanced. In June 2010 the government announced the creation of a new company, Kroton 2, to manage the State’s interest in the project as well as any future petroleum projects in the country. Kroton 2 was previously a subsidiary of the Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC), which itself was a key player in the LNG deal, directed by the Prime Minister’s son, Arthur Somare.

Announcements at the end of 2010 shed light on the establishment of PNG’s Sovereign Wealth Fund following discussions between the PNG Government, the Australian government and various other international actors. The Sovereign Wealth Fund will hold the revenues from the LNG project in an offshore location, with three main pots of money: A Strategic and Stablisation Fund, a Future Fund and an Infrastructure Fund. How this fund will be governed and the oversight mechanisms that are involved are still to be seen.

We consider it vital to closely monitor the revenue streams and mechanisms for revenue management throughout the project, especially given past experiences of wealth from large mining projects in PNG failing to translate into progress on human development targets such as life expectancy, education and health services in PNG.

The more recent progress report commissioned by PNG LNG joint venture partners’ (including the Australian government) make no mention of deaths that have occurred due to project-related conflict and only brief mention of grievances and disputes. The report notes that the Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for the project went through its first revision in September and a revised plan was presented to the Lenders group. We would urge lenders, including the Australian government’s export credit agency, EFIC, to make public this updated plan and to take into account the serious developments that are taking place on the LNG project.

We will continue to monitor the project and related developments, with a 40 page report on the LNG project and management of revenues to be released by Jubilee Australia mid 2011.

Robin Hood Tax - Long Term Climate Finance Submission

Sun, 01 May 2011 06:15:00 GMT

In January, as part of the Robin Hood Tax coalition we made a submission to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency’s consultation on “Long Term Options for International Climate Finance”.

UN Independent Expert calls for greater transparency of EFIC's operations

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:25:00 GMT

[Media Statement, Jubilee Australia 11 February 2011]

A report released in the last week by New York NGO Human Rights Watch confirms allegations of torture and rape by private security squads at the Porgera Gold mine in Papua New Guinea, the most recent in a spate of evidence implicating Australian companies, Australian banks and even Australian taxpayer funds in the serious violation of the rights of individuals and communities in our region.

Australian loans made to support mining projects in PNG, deemed in Australia’s ‘national interest’, have been put in the spotlight this week by a visit to Australia by United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights, Foreign Debt and International Financial Obligations, Dr Cephas Lumina.

Among other matters, Dr Lumina’s visit to Australia considered the role of lenders such as Australia’s Export Credit Agency (EFIC) in financing projects in countries that face huge social and political challenges with high risk of human rights abuses, conflict and worsening corruption. In a press conference today to conclude his visit, Dr Lumina identified as one of his key concerns the lack of information available to the public about the transactions undertaken by the EFIC. He urged the Australian Government to “ensure accountability and transparency in EFIC’s operations, particularly those undertaken under its National Interest Account.”

One of the latest such deals was a multi-million dollar Australian government loan contract signed in favour of PNG’s largest ever mining venture, a US$15 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project led by Exxon Mobil, with Australian companies Santos and Oil Search in toe. More than $300 million will come directly from Australian taxpayers, despite the benefits of the loan concentrating heavily in the bank accounts of the private companies involved.

Even in the project’s early construction phases there are signs for concern, with unidentified mobile police squads patrolling the areas around the project sites and a number of incidents, including shooting deaths, reported in national media. The entire project came to boiling point in recent weeks with local landowners closing down gas plants and mobilising on project sites after increased discontent over payments owing to them as compensation.

In the case of the Porgera mine, also in PNG, in the early 1990s the Australian government provided loans worth over $200 to facilitate Australian private sector involved in the controversial project.

Australia’s export credit agency, EFIC is a statutory authority providing this finance on behalf of Australian citizens and government. Yet the agency hides behind an unusual exemption from the Freedom of Information Act and a lack of scrutiny applied to it by the Trade Minister.

“Mining projects undertaken by Australian corporations in developing countries have, in many reported cases, had unacceptable consequences, including social unrest, irreversible environmental damage, and the infringement of individual and community human rights”, said Adele Webb, National Coordinator of Jubilee Australia.

“While it is not reasonable to expect Australia’s export credit agency to solve these issues, we do expect EFIC not to make them worse”.

“Australian taxpayers deserve to know what is being done with their money, especially if there is evidence it is financing problem projects in the region. At the very least, the Trade Minister should seriously consider removing EFIC’s exemption from the Freedom of Information provisions, and require the agency to meet more stringent reporting requirements”.

To read the press statement of the UN Independent Expert visit the UNIC site.

To read the report, Gold's Costly Dividend, visit the HRW website.

Stock exchange rules boost transparency for extractive industry projects worldwide

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 04:01:00 GMT

Groundbreaking legislation passed through the US Congress in July 2010 has sent a wave of momentum around the globe relating to transparency requirements for payments in extractive industry projects. President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act last year, which in addition to financial regulatory reform, requires all U.S and foreign companies registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose, on a disaggregated basis, how much they pay governments for access to their oil, gas and minerals. The requirement applies on a country-by-country and project-by-project basis, which is a level of disclosure not yet required by any other regulatory body around the world. A handful of other stock exchanges have notable requirements, such as the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investments Market which puts extra disclosure requirements on extractive industry companies and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange which started mandating country-by-country reporting in early 2010; however to this point nothing has yet reached the level of the US standards. Given the widespread impact of the Dodd-Frank legislation, which will require compliance by 90% of the world’s largest internationally operating oil and gas companies, it has provoked calls for the new international accounting standard to be replicated in other countries.

In late November, the Canadian Publish What you Pay Coalition published a paper that calls on Canada to harmonise its regulations in line with the Dodd-Frank requirements. In December 2010 the European Commission carried out a consultation to discuss the possibility of introducing such requirements for EU-listed companies. In addition, the UK Parliament passed a motion to consider further disclosure of payments to governments including country-by-country reporting requirements.

The Revenue Watch Institute has further information on the latest developments related to the Dodd Frank act.

Finally, the World Bank recently released its Annual Extractive Industries Report in which it makes special mention of the Dodd-Frank legislation as an international standard to consider. These developments are encouraging and strengthen the global movement for transparency and accountability in revenues derived from oil, gas and mining projects. Advances such as the Dodd-Frank Act, along with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the work of international networks such as the Publish What You Pay coalition are vital to unlocking the opacity surrounding to extractive industry projects around the world.

Jubilee Australia is a member of the Australian Publish What You Pay Network, along with Oxfam Australia and Transparency International.

Jubilee Submission - EFIC Social & Environment Policy Update

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 02:12:00 GMT

To: Export Finance and Insurance Corporation
Re: EFIC Social & Environment Policy Update

October 1, 2010

Jubilee Australia thanks the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) for the opportunity to provide feedback to the draft Social and Environment Policy and Procedure documents published on the EFIC website, as of 6 August, 2010.

Jubilee Australia is an anti-poverty NGO based in Sydney, founded in 2001. As part of Jubilee Australia’s broader mission, to expose and challenge the economic policies and structures that hinder the alleviation of poverty, particularly in the Asia-Pacific (including advocating for improved lending practices to address the accumulation of unpayable sovereign debt by less-developed country governments), Jubilee has in recent years been focusing much of its work on increasing the transparency and accountability of EFIC. This work has included making submissions on Category A projects disclosed by EFIC, initiating freedom of information applications, and publishing an investigative report, Risky Business, detailing two case studies of EFIC support provided to Category A projects in the Pacific region.

It is in the national interest for the Australian Government to promote business abroad, and EFIC is a key enabler of this. EFIC is mandated, under the function outlined in Part 7 of the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act 1991 to facilitate and encourage Australian export trade by providing insurance and financial services and products to persons involved directly or indirectly in such trade, and to encourage banks, and other financial institutions carrying on business in Australia to finance, or assist in financing, export contracts or eligible export transactions.

Importantly, however, this export promotion function of EFIC, as with all export credit agencies (ECA), is being fulfilled in the context of a fall-out in corporate responsibility occuring around the world. Projects undertaken by foreign corporations in developing countries have, in many reported cases, had unacceptable consequences, including social unrest, irreversible environmental damage, and the infringement of individual and community human rights. While it is not reasonable to expect export credit agencies to solve these issues, we do expect ECAs, including EFIC, to not make them worse.

EFIC, either directly or indirectly, uses public funds to operate its business. The agency operates on a statutory basis, fulfilling a public policy function. EFIC should not be using public funds nor public authority to contribute to social unrest, environmental damage or human rights abuses in developing countries. Jubilee Australia is of the opinion that while EFIC may take great care to assess and manage its financial risks, it does not take the same level of care, nor does the agency as a whole attribute the same importance, to the social and environmental risks associated with the transactions it facilitates.

To this end, the Environmental Policy of EFIC should be more formally recognised within the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act 1991. Export Development Canada (EDC) has an Environmental Review Directive that has legislative recognition under Section 10.1 of the Export Development Act 1985 (E-20). The aim of legislative recognition of EDC’s Environmental Review Directive is to secure consistent procedural compliance with the project assessment process. Jubilee Australia advocates that EFIC adopts the same approach to its draft Environmental Policy and its Anti-Bribery Policy. EFIC should request the Federal Government amend the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act to establish formal statutory recognition of EFIC’s Environmental Policy. The Minister retains an ability to create Regulations under Section 91 of the Act and it would be appropriate for the Minister pursuant to Section 8(2)(b)(iii) to publish a Regulation to acknowledges EFIC's Environmental and Anti-Bribery Policies.

Furthermore, the Environmental Review Directive and its application to EDC’s work is reviewed by the Canadian Office of the Auditor General at least every 5 years and the Auditor General’s findings are tabled in Parliament under Section 21 (2) of the Export Development Act. The recent 2009 Audit Report of EDC provided the organisation with important recommendations. Jubilee Australia is of the opinion that statutory recognition of EFIC’s Environmental Policy and an Auditor General review of EFIC compliance with the policy every 5 years would create greater confidence in EFIC’s due diligence processes and provide greater reassurance that EFIC is acting consistently with its Environmental Policy.

Jubilee Australia considers that the current review of EFIC’s social and environmental assessment policy and processes is a critical opportunity to submit comments on the existing framework. Given the importance of this review, Jubilee is disappointed that EFIC has not disclosed its process or timeline for review, nor has EFIC widely publicised the review to give other Australian stakeholders the opportunity to respond. The review process undertaken in other countries, including Canada and Japan, is much more thorough. Jubilee would strongly urge EFIC to hold off Board approval of the Policy until at least one public consultation/workshop has been held. Jubilee Australia would be willing to assist EFIC in publicising such a consultation to a broader group of civil society organisations and other stakeholders.

In making a formal submission to EFIC’s Environment Policy update, Jubilee Australia has undertaken to provide a comprehensive response to the current draft documents disclosed on the EFIC website as of 6 August, 2010, which we found to have serious shortcomings and a concerning lack detail and clarity.

We provide below our comments on the current draft along with a revised version of the EFIC Social and Environment Policy, which is an attempt to resolve the issues identified. We would also note that, with very few exceptions, the policies and practices proposed in our draft version are consistent with those of other export credit agencies, most notably EDC (Canada), JBIC (Japan) and Ex-Im (USA).

Jubilee Australia is committed to continuing its leading work on export credit into the near future, including leading a network of civil society organisations, both in Australia and internationally, who would like to see reform of EFIC policies and practices in relation to high-risk projects. To this end we value the ability to hold discussions with EFIC representatives on a regular basis and we are committed to sustaining a respectful and meaningful dialogue and engagement with EFIC.

Signed:

Adele Webb
National Coordinator, Jubilee Australia

Publish what you pay! Corruption and the MDGs

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:18:00 GMT

On the edge of the UN’s millennium development goals summit in New York last month, singer Bob Geldof, philanthropist George Soros and a small group of others, made an effort to use the opportunity to argue for changes to EU transparency regulations.

Meeting with president of the European Commission, they argued that european-listed natural resources and mining companies extracting oil, gas, diamonds and gold should be forced to disclose payments they make to governments in developing countries.

The effort follows a recent breakthrough in the US with amendment of the financial reform bill, forcing all extractive industries listed on the New York Stock Exchange to publish their payments.

Improving accountability of extractive industries in rich countries, by forcing them to ‘publish what they pay’ to developing country governments, will allow citizens in poorer countries to track how their governments spend the revenue generated from large mining and extractive projects.

Through the ‘Publish What You Pay’ coalition in Australia, Jubilee Australia and partners, including Oxfam Australia and Transparency International, are supporting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and increasing pressure on Australian companies to do the same.

There is no doubt, breakthroughs on issues of corruption and transparency are critical to progress on the millennium development goals.

Robin Hood Tax gets a boost in New York

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:25:00 GMT

During the official summit in New York, the 140 heads of state and world leaders were looking at new ways to meet the millennium development goals following the realisation that progress in many of the world’s poorest countries is falling behind.

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, gave a massive boost to the global Robin Hood Tax campaign, saying as next year’s chair of the G20 he would champion a Financial Transaction Tax.

In the lead up to the November G20 meeting in Korea, Jubilee Australia and the Australian Robin Hood Tax coalition will again be putting pressure on the Australian government to stop opposing the tax.

Pakistan asked to accept new loans in wake of floods

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:23:00 GMT

As 20 million displaced persons piece their lives together, their government is putting aside almost one-third of its budget for foreign creditors. The funds will no doubt come at the expense of relief efforts for the victims of the August flooding.

Despite this, there have been no moves by Pakistan’s creditors to forgo or postpone debt repayments. The Centre for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM) reports that Pakistan has loans outstanding of $55 billion, and this is set to increase to $74 billion after a markup later this year. Pakistan paid $3 billion in debt obligations last financial year, one-third of government expenditure.

The repayments have been the object of strong criticism, with students and unionists taking to the streets of Lahore on Monday in protest. According to the CADTM, the protestors are demanding the government to ignore the debt and have made the case for outright cancellation, citing the failure of IMF and World Bank policies in the country. The calls for debt forgiveness are supported by academics and NGOs within the country urging that Pakistan prioritise its relief efforts for flood victims.

Meanwhile, the floods have forced millions into refugee camps and devastated the nations infrastructure, meaning that further resources must be spent bringing the relief where it is needed. As the government prepares its budget, Winter threatens further harm for a population already suffering an urgent humanitarian crisis.

The insistence of institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to hold countries in the debt spiral, and the appalling human suffering that results from the international community’s failure to deal comprehensively with the debt crisis, is the reason the international Jubilee debt cancellation movement continues its work.

What can you do? Sign the international petition to help Pakistan by stopping the debt!