22 November 2008
Protesters target ‘unethical’ super fund
12 March 2007
By Dylan Quinnell: Te Waha Nui Online
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About 50 demonstrators marched down Auckland’s Queen Street to the New Zealand Superannuation Fund office today, protesting against alleged “unethical investment” in companies producing nuclear weapons and cluster bombs.
Marchers, spurred on by chants like “hey-hey ho-ho unethical investments must go”, carried signs saying “no state$$$ for nukes, sweat shops, cluster bombs and Freeport mine” and “NZ Superfund invests in murder”.
The protest was organised by Auckland University Students for Justice in Palestine.
It also targeted investments at Freeport gold and copper mine in West Papua and the US supermarket giant Wal-Mart, accusing it of labour and human rights abuses.
The New Zealand government’s $2.3 billion investment four years ago has grown to $11.9 billion, including the alleged unethical investments.
“It’s just insane”, said protest leader Omar Ahmed.
“We shouldn’t be funding corporations which produce weapons like cluster bombs while at the same time paying to send our soldiers to diffuse them in Lebanon.”
Another protester, Cameron Walker, said it was “absolutely hypocritical” that the government had a non-nuclear policy yet was investing in companies that produced nuclear weapons.
This is something generations of New Zealanders had fought for.
Ahmed says the aim of the protest was to raise awareness of the issue and show the government that there was public opposition.
“We also want to show solidarity with the people of West Papua protesting against the mine, the victims of cluster bombs in Lebanon and those who live under the threat of a nuclear attack or have been subject to nuclear testing.”
The protest received mixed support from the public.
One middle-aged business women said: “If I was younger I would have joined them, I want New Zealand to be anti-nuclear.
“But is there anything in this world that doesn’t have double standards?”
However, another man believed it was none of his business.
A fund statement said the ‘criticism focussed on a small proportion of the funds investments”.
It added that the fund had shown leadership in the area of responsible investment in New Zealand.
Money had been moved away from a company that produced landmines and another that sold whale meat.
