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Pandering to the Government Surveys have shown that voters trust non-government organisations much more than they trust politicians and businesses. With the election upon us, political parties need the support of environment groups to win over key constituencies. But all is not what it seems in the environment movement. Clive Hamilton reports. No. 40 September 2004 On 7th September, the Federal organisations, most of which have Environment Minister Senator Ian been campaigning on the issue for Pandering to the Government Campbell issued a media release years, wrote an excoriating letter to Clive Hamilton announcing some new Commonwealth WWF directors. It declared of WWF’s grants for projects to protect threatened Blueprint for Tasmanian Forests: species. While the announcement was a Making private schools dull affair, the remarkable feature of the “The document is incredibly accountable media release was that it included the damaging to the cause of forest Deb Wilkinson panda logo of the World Wide Fund for conservation in Tasmania. We Nature and quotes from the acting CEO believe it will do irreparable harm of WWF praising the Government’s to the reputation of WWF in The next gender wars program. Australia and internationally.” Barbara Pocock The fact that WWF is actively promoting The environment groups were not the Pets and foreign aid the Howard Government’s only ones to feel betrayed. The Age Richard Denniss environmental policies in the middle of reported that some wildlife an election campaign is difficult to square photographers whose work is due to with its angry reaction to the Australia be published in a new WWF book on Quotes from the Tenth Institute’s July report which concluded the Tarkine have withdrawn Anniversary Dinner that the relationship between WWF and permission to use their photos. One the Howard Government has become Hobart photographer, Ted Mead, was Allies fall out over issue that never unhealthily close. quoted as saying: “I certainly would not have been part of the book project if I was had known the blueprint was going to WWF Australia has enjoyed be produced”. Looking into the ‘Too Hard’ lavish financial support from basket the Howard Government with Taming the panda Howard Pender a five-fold funding boost since 1996. The Institute’s study found that WWF has enjoyed lavish financial support Health insurance tricky for the old from the Howard Government with a Richard Denniss The report, Taming the Panda, followed five-fold funding boost since 1996. an earlier Institute report, Silencing Total Government grants over the Australians still the world’s worst Dissent, which examined the means by period amount to more than $15 which the Howard Government million, with $13.5 million allocated greenhouse gas emitters attempts to silence its critics in non- since 1998-99, nearly all of it from the Hal Turton government organisations. Federal Government. Climate follies Within days of the release of the The flow of Federal funds was turned Clive Hamilton Institute’s paper a bitter row broke out on after WWF endorsed the Howard in Tasmania over a report detailing Government’s highly controversial WWF’s solution to the dispute over Environmental Protection and Institute notes logging in Tasmania’s old-growth Biodiversity Conservation Act in 1999. forests. Thirteen local environment Funding to other environment groups, THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE notably ACF and TWS (both of which Because the public is justified in asking were critical of the EPBC Act), has been whether the opinions and activities of slashed. other groups are influenced by WWF in PNG governments and businesses, the An analysis of the public statements standing of all environment NGOs in WWF’s unpopularity is not made by WWF Australia and other the community could be jeopardised. environment organisations about the confined to Australia. Simmering Howard Government’s major Playing politics resentment among local environment policies showed the conservation groups in Papua It is apparent that WWF is being used following. New Guinea has recently spilled by the Howard Government to endorse into the media with the ABC « WWF Australia’s comments are unpopular environment policies. It almost uniformly favourable, and frequently deploys WWF’s name and reporting environmentalists often highly complimentary, to the statements in an effort to give credibility accusing WWF of not doing Howard Government. to controversial government policies. enough to promote conservation in the Kikori region. For some « WWF Australia’s position is There is an inherent danger for independent community-based time, environment groups in frequently at odds with those of organisations when they accept other major environment groups PNG have criticised WWF for government funding. Organisations such as ACF, Greenpeace, TWS and failing to communicate and work that begin to see the world through the state conservation councils. with local groups. eyes of governments risk losing their « Other major organisations are capacity to make dispassionate sometimes critical and sometimes assessments of what is in the interests supportive of Howard of the environment. It is also likely to win the backing of the Government policies. Most organisations work assiduously National Association of Forest The evidence suggests that WWF to guard their independence and, at their Industries. At a recent forest industry Australia can usually be relied upon to best, governments accept this. In the conference in Melbourne reported by Bob praise the Howard Government’s main case of the Howard Government and Burton, the head of NAFI, Kate Carnell, environment policies, while other WWF Australia, it appears that the line described a divide-and-conquer strategy organisations are more likely to provide has been crossed. in which ‘moderates’ are courted and ‘radicals’ marginalised. WWF’s Senior an independent assessment. With the environment expected to Policy Officer, Michael Rae, shared the The report concluded that there are feature more prominently in this federal podium with her. strong grounds for questioning whether election than any since 1990, ‘solving’ WWF Australia can legitimately the iconic Tasmanian forests problem “The problem as I see it … is that continue to describe itself as will be high on the agenda of the major although I think Michael Rae and independent. The loss of independence parties. WWF’s Blueprint offers the WWF are doing an absolutely is of considerable importance as it promise of saving the industry and stunning job [attempting to undermines WWF Australia’s role in getting the endorsement of a major negotiate with industry],” Carnell public debates about Government green group. It’s an attractive approach said, “ … we know that if we come policy and raises questions about and we may well see the Howard to an arrangement with Michael and whether it has misled its supporters and Government adopting something very WWF, the Wilderness Society will the general public. similar and receiving WWF backing. still hate us because their fundamental position is that native Growth in WWF revenue from government sources 1992/93–2002/03 ($m) forestry shouldn’t exist at all”. Many committed and capable people 4.0 work for WWF, and the organisation has 3.5 made a valuable contribution to environmental protection in Australia and 3.0 elsewhere. But WWF appears to have lost 2.5 sight of the critical importance of maintaining its independence from 2.0 government and business. One hopes 1.5 that it will come to its senses before it does too much long-term damage to its 1.0 reputation. 0.5 The appointment of former BP chief, Greg Bourne, as the new CEO of WWF 0.0 Australia augurs well as he has a track 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 record of asserting his independence. n 2 THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Making private schools accountable In the wake of the Prime Minister’s comments about the lack of values in public schools, The Accountability of Private Schools to Public Values (Institute Discussion Paper 71), considers the extent to which private schools are accountable to the Australian public for the funding they receive. It has always been accepted that The Federal Government’s adoption of organisations must be accountable for the new model to distribute funds the public funds they receive. The large between private schools has resulted in increase in government funding for greater inequality of access to schooling. private schools naturally causes the The largest increases in per student community to ask whether those funding have been allocated to the schools are sufficiently accountable for highest fee schools. Not only can private their commitment to the public values schools select the easiest students to that all schools are expected to uphold. teach, but the Federal Government ensures that the most favourable of While the private school sector, in all of four different funding approaches is its diversity, promotes some of these applied to each private school. public values some of the time, some private schools fail to uphold them. Yet Schools and snobbery these schools remain accountable primarily to their own boards rather There is a widespread view that the than to the Australian public more extension of private schooling, and generally. especially the role of elite schools, is Multiculturalism, understood as respect entrenching class divisions in Australia. Furthermore, to the extent that some and tolerance for different cultural At elite private schools, the school sectors of the private school system practices and religious beliefs, occurs population is largely comprised of actively seek to be exclusive, either above all in the school yard. The students from the same socio-economic because of the fees they charge or on overwhelming majority of respondents group because only wealthy families can religious grounds, the private school to a Newspoll survey commissioned by afford to send their children to these system cannot achieve the degree of the Institute believe that it is good for schools.

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