When big corporations are destroying the environment, there's often only one way to get them to stop: by targeting their pocketbooks and organizing boycotts of their products. Now, though, Tony Abbott's government is trying to take that power away.
Currently, a provision in the Consumer and Competition Act prohibits groups from organizing boycotts unless they're doing it for "consumer or environmental protection." Parliamentary secretary for agriculture Richard Colbeck wants to remove that provision, supposedly to give corporations a chance against the activists who are standing up against their environmentally devastating practices.
This would rob activists of the ability to organize boycotts against big companies who are cutting down hundred-year-old trees or exporting live animals through cruel means. It's not leveling the playing field -- it's giving corporations a huge advantage.
Tell Colbeck not to make organizing boycotts impossible for environmental groups!
I am writing to urge you to drop your crusade against activists and environmental groups. Robbing these groups of the ability to boycott against harmful corporations is denying them power to hold companies accountable for dangerous practicies. If the government isn't willing to impose regulations against companies, it's clear that activists must do so instead.
You say that you're trying to "level the playing field," but in reality, you're tilting the field hugely in favor of timber, mining, and meatpacking companies -- and that's not fair for Australia's people or the environment. Please leave the Consumer and Competition Act intact!
