ANU invites students to review investment policies following protests

The Australian National University has invited students to a working group to review the ­university’s investment policy, amid a still-ongoing pro-Palestine camp pitched on its campus.

The pro-Palestine encampment protest at The Australian National University in Canberra in May. Picture: Martin Ollman

The Australian National University has invited students to a working group to review the ­university’s investment policy, amid a still-ongoing pro-Palestine camp pitched on its campus.

“Recent advocacy from our community has helped to draw attention to a lack of clarity in the (socially responsible investment) policy on revenue derived from the manufacture and sale of technology with military applications,” an ANU issues paper reads.

“This is not an issue for ANU but across the university sector.

“Changing community sentiment requires new considerations for the university’s invest­ment portfolio.”

It is similar to a part of the deal the University of Sydney struck with pro-Palestine encampment protesters on its campus. As part of that agreement, protesters were granted a seat at the university’s working group to review any defence and security-related investments.

While protest group representatives have not been directly invited to the ANU’s working group, it will include student representatives on the ANU Council, which includes the president of the ANU student association. The organisation initially supported the encampment protest but was forced to withdraw once one of its executive officers went on radio with their predecessor, the latter of whom said that Hamas deserves “unconditional support”. The organisation said afterwards it did not support those comments.

The organisation once again found itself in hot water following one of its online meetings out of which the university investigated claims students had performed Nazi-inspired gestures.

In that same meeting, Jewish students had been voted down when they introduced motions to address alleged anti-Semitism in the encampment protest.

The ANU’s working group “consists of subject matter experts and representatives from the ANU community, including student representatives,” a university spokesman said.

“The working group will collate and synthesise feedback on the university’s socially responsible investment policy from the entire ANU community to support the development of any updates to the policy.”

The ANU’s current investment policy screens out firms that derive more than 20 per cent of revenue from coal, gambling, pornography, and tobacco.