- Australian health advocacy group Healthy Futures demands HESTA superannuation fund divest from gas companies Woodside and Santos
- Health workers are protesting outside HESTA's Melbourne office, arguing that investing retirement funds in fossil fuels contradicts healthcare goals
- The organisation criticises HESTA's three-year engagement watchlist approach, which has failed to change the gas companies' expansion plans
- Healthcare professionals view climate crisis as a public health emergency and object to their default superannuation fund supporting fossil fuel companies
- HESTA is being urged to demonstrate ethical leadership in Australian superannuation by dropping investments in these major gas polluters
Healthy Futures, one of Australia’s leading health and climate advocacy organisations, is calling on HESTA, an industry super fund for health and community services, to immediately divest from gas companies Woodside and Santos.
The call comes as health workers and concerned community members rally outside HESTA’s Melbourne office this morning, making it clear that it's time for the fund to live up to its climate commitments.
Healthy Futures, representing allied healthcare professionals, nurses, and doctors, argues that it is fundamentally at odds for health care providers working on the front lines of a health system increasingly stressed by climate change to have their retirement funds invested in the very causes of that crisis.
“The climate crisis is a public health emergency, and fossil fuel extraction and consumption is the leading driver of this emergency,” said Lucy McLean, Health Representative, Healthy Futures.
“I am working in healthcare settings where HESTA is the default fund, and I find it deeply disturbing that my colleagues have unknowingly been encouraged into a fund that is ultimately worsening the lives of their patients and clients.”
The organisation highlights that HESTA’s continued investments in companies like Woodside and Santos is deeply concerning for a fund that claims to care about healthcare workers and those they serve.
“The climate crisis is not something we can choose to just put on our watchlist. The climate crisis is front and centre in unfolding health outcomes, and we will bear the brunt of this emergency,” McLean added.
September marks three years since HESTA placed Woodside and Santos on an “engagement watchlist,” yet both companies have continued to double down on oil and gas expansion.
Dr Bronwyn McDonald, Campaign Manager for Healthy Futures, emphasised HESTA is now in a unique position to take decisive action.
“HESTA is now in the perfect position to be leading ethical Australian superannuation and drop its stocks in Woodside and Santos—two huge gas polluters,” Dr McDonald stated. “HESTA has given these companies three years to align their business plans away from polluting activities. It is now clear they are only going to continue expanding their gas operations, so it's time for HESTA to drop the stocks.”
About us:
About Healthy Futures: Healthy Futures is one of Australia's leading health and climate advocacy organisations, representing allied healthcare professionals, nurses, and doctors who are committed to a healthy climate for a healthy future.
Contact details:
Dr Bronwyn McDonald Healthy Futures Health and Climate Campaigner, 0408 477 . Available on request Clinical Pyschologist Lucy McLean
