Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Deputy Greens Leader and Spokesperson for Higher Education, has today introduced a Bill that requires universities to disclose and divest from any partnerships with dirty industries, including weapons manufacturers, gambling, fossil fuel and tobacco companies.
This Bill, Explanatory Memorandum, and Senator Faruqi's second reading speech can be found here.
The Higher Education Support Amendment (End Dirty Uni Partnerships) Bill 2024 requires all universities receiving Commonwealth funding to:
- Disclose all links with dirty industries;
- Divest from all partnerships, investments and other monetary ties with dirty industries;
- Not enter into any new 'prohibited partnerships' with the weapons, fossil fuels, gambling, and tobacco industries.
The Bill also prohibits universities from appointing to their governing bodies any individual with ties to these industries.
The Bill comes at a pertinent and challenging time, as the climate crisis escalates while fossil fuel companies record mammoth profits and as weapons manufacturers pocket billions while tens of thousands of people are slaughtered.
Advice from the Parliamentary Library based on publicly available information shows extensive links between Australian universities and weapons companies. However, due to a lack of reporting requirements, it is not possible to know the full extent of these relationships.
Last year, across the country, over 6,000 students in 15 universities voted overwhelmingly in favour of divestment.
As stated by Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
"There can be no justification for universities investing in weapons manufacturers whose weapons are inflicting mass harm to people in Gaza and around the world.
"Findings from the Parliamentary Library have revealed that several universities across the country receive millions of dollars from major arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Thales, who are profiteering from the killing of Palestinians. The transparency rules are so lax that universities aren't even required to disclose these partnerships.
"Universities should be places that advance the public good, not help dirty industries profit from human misery. Links to dirty industries just betray this core purpose and the mission of academia.
"Universities must disclose and divest from dirty industries like weapons, gambling and fossil fuels. There is no place for these industries in our universities.
"Universities have shamefully failed to heed the calls of the courageous staff and students who have been calling for weapons-free and fossil-free campuses.
"Dirty money from weapons companies should stay out of our universities. If universities won't do it on their own accord, then we will force them to do so with legislation.
"Universities should be fully funded to be places of democracy, equity and public good."
