LIFESTYLE 14 - 15
UMMAH 16 - 18
EDUCATION 19
BUSINESS 20 - 21
AUSTRALIA
SOCIAL 22 - 23
AMUST
MPs calculate own slavery footprint ahead of government announcement Jane Jeffes Thursday afternoon, 24 September 2020, NSW State Parliament: the NSW MP for Prospect Hugh McDermott MLA urged parliamentary colleagues in the Legislative Assembly to calculate the number of people their individual lifestyles keep in slavery. (You can do the same by scanning the QR code.) Prompted by not-for-profit project War on Slavery to take the Slavery Footprint survey, Mr McDermott expressed abject horror at discovering his family’s lifestyle depends on 63 slaves. ”The phones in our pockets, tea and coffee we drink, clothes and jewellery we wear, tinned tuna and chocolate in our kids’ lunchboxes…. all these things and much more have known slavery in their supply chains,” he told AMUST. “When the NSW Modern Slavery Act was passed two years ago, an estimated 42 million people – roughly five times the population of our state – the combined population of London, New York and Tokyo – were believed to be in slavery around the world. More people in slavery than ever before. It’s a number that shouldn’t exist and not one person in NSW can confidently say they have a slavery count of zero. We are all complicit.” The impassioned speech was delivered against a backdrop of concern that the Government has abandoned its commitment to the NSW Modern Slavery Act, unanimously passed and assented in June 2018. The legislation is regarded as ground-breaking but after the 2019 election, instead of bringing the Act into force the government referred it to an Inquiry. The Inquiry received over 100 submissions overwhelmingly urging the implementation of the Act as world-leading legislation. The Inquiry Committee’s Report
Scan QR code for Slavery Footprint Calculator tabled on March 25 recommended the Act be enforced by 1 January 2021 with a few minor amendments to ensure legal comity with the Commonwealth. The six-month window in which the Government must table its response ends today, Friday September 25. Concerned that the government will say the 12 remaining sitting days are not enough to get amendments through parliamentary process in 2020, anti-slavery campaigners, NGOs, survivor support groups and lawyers lobbied MLAs and MLCs yesterday. The modern-day abolitionists – including a descendant of one of the great British abolitionists more than 200 years ago – told the parliamentarians that the people of NSW do not want to be funding this $150 billion a year crime and hope that enforcement of the Act without further delay will mean NSW can come out of COVID with real and lasting improvements to the way we do busi-
“We are all
“
complicit.
Hugh McDermott MLA, NSW Member for Prospect and UNSW Emeritus Professor of Law Paul Redmond with campaigners including War On Slavery, Baptist World Aid, Hope for Justice and Be Slavery Free. ness and society in NSW. War on Slavery’s Becky Honey said “The numbers of people in slavery have shot up in the two years since the parliament unanimously passed the Act and the effect of the COVID pandemic now increases the risks for the vulnerable exponentially – affecting the millions in supply chains overseas and the growing numbers of people who are socially and economically marginalised in our region and here including ‘ordinary’ workers in NSW – people doing it really tough – people we might previously have called Aussie battlers.” Campaigners say that the NSW Modern Slavery Act is world-leading legislation which if enforced would provide a new benchmark for other governments and would provide NSW with a modern slavery equivalent of a carbon offset to begin reducing our slavery footprint. “Business cannot afford not to comply,” Ms Honey continued. “The mood is changing amongst investors, shareholders and consumers and they’re making themselves heard. They want and are demanding human sustainability alongside climate sustainability.”
The first-ever NSW Parliament ePetition has been launched by Greg Donnelly MLC to support the NSW Modern Slavery Act being brought into force. Anticipating the government does not accept the Inquiry recommendations and prioritise bringing the Act into force on January 1, 2021, the ePetition requires 20,000 e.Signatures by November 3, 2020 to trigger a debate in the NSW Parliament. The number of signatures is expected to exceed 10,000 by Friday. Previous paper petitions required 10,000 signatures. Please sign and share the petition. You will find it here: https://bit.ly/3haI3el The Hansard recording of Hugh McDermott’s Private Members Statement can be found here https://spaces.hightail.com/ space/SqPBoRAdEt. Scan the QR code above to do the Slavery Footprint Calculator or visit slaveryfootprint.org Jane Jeffes is a producer and director and former head of ABC Religion & Ethics. A UK-Australian dual national she is based in Sydney, Australia.
Lebanon needs our ongoing help Chris Hayes MP
A man reacts at the scene of an explosion at Beirut’s port, Aug. 4. Ibrahim Amro / Getty Images.
‘By not engaging with the roots of dispossession and conflicts, international powers promote short-term versions of resilience, stability and humanitarian protection. This papers over dysfunctional institutions and deteriorating livelihoods.’ This is a statement by Tamirace Fakhoury, an associate professor of political science and international affairs at the Lebanese American University. It puts into perspective the need of international communities to assist in the longterm transformation of Lebanon. In August this year, Lebanon was rocked by a catastrophic explosion which ripped through the heart of its capital, Beirut. At the time we saw an outpouring of support by the international community to
“The
explosion in Lebanon was the last straw...
“
NOVEMBER 2020 / ISSUE 180
assist Lebanon and its people to get through this catastrophe. Unfortunately, it has now been more than two months since the calamity and Lebanon and its people seem to have disappeared into a distant memory.
The explosion in Lebanon was the last straw when considered alongside the ongoing turmoil of a dire economic situation—an economy on the brink of collapse—widespread corruption, homelessness and poverty. The collapsing Lebanese economy is testing the Lebanese people like never before, with the value of the Lebanese pound reduced
WWW.AMUST.COM.AU
fivefold and with inflation so high that people are unable to afford the basic necessities and put food on the table. Despite this, Lebanon has been extremely generous, opening its borders to over a million refugees who have fled the decade-long civil wars of both Syria and Iraq. Added to these issues it has also had to grapple with an unprecedented health crisis, as the already overstretched Lebanese healthcare system attempts to provide care and support to those impacted by the Coronavirus. If these issues are not strong enough to command the attention of the international community, then we must question our collective humanity. As part of the international community we must show an enduring will to help return a stable and independent government in Lebanon, one that is focused on its people and their welfare and one that will help Lebanon achieve the transformative changes that it so desperately needs. Given the fact that Lebanon is still hosting millions of refugees and struggling to cope with its own mounting internal issues, as part of the international community we must be prepared to lend our ongoing support and share in this humanitarian responsibility. Mr Chris Hayes MP is the Federal Member for the NSW seat of Fowler and Chief Opposition Whip.
AUSTRALASIAN MUSLIM TIMES
13
