What do Israel publicist Erin Molan and chairman of National Australia Bank Philip Chronican have in common? They are both key speakers at the Jerusalem Post Sydney conference next month.
The conference is to promote investment in Israel but the catch is Israel is accused of genocide and NAB has a human rights policy which adheres to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Jerusalem Post conference flyer
NAB media team did not respond to requests for comment by deadline. Also headlining the conference are former IDF personnel, a former adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, intelligence personnel and speakers involved with the illegal financing of settlements in the West Bank
Barrister Benedict Coyne lodged a Human Rights Grievance last year under the ANZ Human Rights Grievance Mechanism in relation to former ANZ Bank chief Shayne Elliott’s patronage of the Israel business lobby (AICC) and told MWM the bank was lending its
“imprimatur to endorsing and promoting the business, political and geopolitical interests of the AICC (and by association the Israel Australia Chamber of Commerce) … appears to be in contravention of ANZ Human Rights Statement (May 2022), ANZ Human Rights Statement (November 2021), RESPECTING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES – ANZ’s Approach to Human Rights (September 2012), the ANZ Code of Conduct, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct.”
Contacted yesterday for this story, Coyne said the NAB arrangements to help the Israel lobby promote trade at the JPost conference may equate to a similar obstruction of NAB’s own human rights policy.
Speakers at Jerusalem Post investment conference in Sydney
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.