The war on Palestine is a humanitarian disaster. We are horrified by the displacement and bombing in Gaza - particularly of hospitals and healthcare clinics. This is a clear breach of international humanitarian law (WHO, 2023) and the targeting of healthcare workers, hospital and civilians is a war crime (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2023). We stand in solidarity with healthcare workers trying to provide urgent medical care even while the bombs continue to drop. Our colleagues have been besieged, bombed, shot at and forced from their workplaces (Helwig & Cramer, 2023). Between the 7th October and 6th December 278 healthcare workers have been killed in the war - and this list keeps growing (OCHA, 2023). It is horrifying to consider that some of the weapons used to target patients and healthcare workers may have been funded through our own healthcare industry super fund (The Australia Institute, 2021). As proud unionists we believe nobody should be endangered in their workplace.

Healthcare workers know the impact of war on people beyond the war on Palestine - through our work with refugees from countries like Iraq, Sudan and Yemen. On a daily basis we see people struggling with the enduring physical and mental health impacts of war. As healthcare workers we believe spending our superannuation savings on active killing, maiming, and traumatising people is antithetical to the work we dedicate our lives to.

HESTA invests in a number of weapons manufacturers (Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Honeywell International, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Jacobs Engineering, L3Harris Technologies, Leidos, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Safran, Textron, Thales) (The Australia Institute, 2021). As healthcare workers we won’t accept our money being used for war. We, the undersigned, call for:

1) Our healthcare unions (HACSU, ANMF, VAHPA, ASU, UWU, HWU and other relevant unions) to demand HESTA to divest from weapons manufacturers.

2) HESTA to immediately divest from companies involved in research, development, manufacture and deployment of weapons.

References

Helwig, C., Cramer, M (2023) Health care workers gather in Chicago, read names of doctors and nurses killed in Gaza. CBS News 8th December, 2023 https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/health-care-workers-chicago-names-doctors-nurses-killed-gaza/

International Commitee of the Red Cross (2023) The Protection of hospital during armed conflicts: What the law says. (accessed 13/12/23) https://www.icrc.org/en/document/protection-hospitals-during-armed-conflicts-what-law-says

The Australia Institute (2021) Quit Nukes - The case for Australian Superannuation funds to be nuclear weapons free https://quitnukes.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Quit-Nukes_7-Dec_FINAL.pdf

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) 2023: Hostilities in the Gaza strip and Israel: flash update #67. (accessed 13/12/23) https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-67#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Gaza%20Ministry,been%20killed%20since%207%20October

World Health Organisation (WHO) 2023 UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO Regional Directors call for immediate action to halt attacks on health care in Gaza (accessed 13/12/23) https://www.emro.who.int/media/news/unfpa-unicef-and-who-regional-directors-call-for-immediate-action-to-halt-attacks-on-health-care-in-gaza.html