Australia Western Sahara Association
Press Release, 25 August 2010

The Australia Western Sahara Association today urged BHP-Billiton to suspend PotashCorp’s trade in phosphate from Western Sahara if its takeover bid is successful.

President of AWSA, Lyn Allison, said “If BHP cares anything for business ethics, social responsibility and international law, it will not allow the Canadian fertiliser corporation to buy further Western Saharan phosphate from Morocco.”
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Sharan Burrow, ACTU President, has written on behalf of the ACTU to His Excellency Mr Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary-General, voicing concerns that the latest report  on Western Sahara S/ 2010/175  has failed to deliver on two crucial points: the referendum, and the implementation of mechanisms to monitor human rights in occupied Western Sahara and in the refugee camps in south west Algeria.

ACTU letter >>

WSRW - Reply to the Chairman’s statement in the AGM:
Australian phosphate importer Incitec Pivot said at its recent Annual General Meeting that the UN is responsible for the Western Sahara issue, not the company. Simultaneously, they defended their imports which are taking place in violation of the UN’s legal opinion and over 100 UN resolutions.

Read post at Western Sahara Resource Watch >>

Members of the Australia Western Sahara Association organised a demonstration during the Annual General Meeting of Incitec Pivot, one the  Australian companies that imports phosphates from Western Sahara illegally. The meeting took place in Melbourne on 23 December 2009.

AWSA Victoria Press Reslease >>

Western Sahara Resource Watch Report
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For the second time, KLP has thrown an Australian fertilizer firm out of its portfolios due to Western Sahara trade. The Western Sahara liberation movement Front Polisario congratulates KLP with its decision.

“KLP has made a right decision. It shows that their ethical and legal analysis of the phosphate industry in Western Sahara is done very thoroughly. We hope other investors will follow KLP’s example”, Brahim Mokhtar, Polisario’s representative to the Nordic countries, told Norwatch.

Read article >>>

The International conference on multilateralism and international law, with Western Sahara as a case study, was held in  Pretoria, South Africa, on 4 and 5 December 2008.  The new clarifications by Hans Corell in his paper to the conference may give fresh impetus to the resources campaign. See press release below from the WS Resource Watch network. Corell’s paper can be downloaded in pdf form.

More information and papers at>>

29/11/2008

The Maritime Union of Australia expressed concern about some Australian companies shipment of phosphate from the occupied territories of Western Sahara, the Union stressed in a written statement of which UPES received a copy yesterday.
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The National Workshop on the Future of Phosphorus organised by Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) http://www.isf.uts.edu.au/contact/index.html was held on 14 November 2008.
Radio program:  Western Sahara is mentioned at:  02.01.00
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bth_20081114_1106.mp3

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Shareholders question Wesfarmers over divestment by ethical fund-holders. Phosphate importations from Western Sahara to blame

A group of Western Sahara friends including Wesfarmers shareholders asked many questions to the management of Wesfarmers during its Annual General Meeting held in Perth on 13 November 2008: http://www.wesfarmers.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=60.   The questions concerned the involvement of Wesfarmers subsidiary CSBP in the illegal exploitation of phosphate rock from Western Sahara. (more…)

Press Release Friday   5 Sept: Australia Western Sahara Association

As the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s starts a tour of North Africa and Incitec Pivot holds an extraordinary General Meeting in Melbourne, the Australia Western Sahara Association, would like to draw attention to Western Sahara, the unresolved issue that affects the North African region.

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