--: Australia Considers Outlawing Environmental Boycotts

Australia Considers Outlawing Environmental Boycotts

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Image: Anatoly Kabanets

In light of protests against furniture retailer Harvey Norman, members of the Australian parliament are looking to make boycotts against companies based on environmental claims illegal. Australia already has laws in place that ban secondary boycotts, but environmental groups are currently exempted from the law.
In recent years, environmental factors have become a large non-market focus for companies, as greater awareness of industrial impacts on nature have led to harsher inspection in the public eye. Should this law pass, it would relieve some of the pressure on companies such as Harvey Norman to maintain certain environmental standards, and limit the public voice on such matters.
Then again, the intent of this law does not seem to be to allow companies leeway, but merely to discourage dishonest campaigns, as Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Richard Colbeck claims. In addition to this law, Colbeck says, he supports an addition to Australia's competition laws that would establish guidelines for determining the legitimacy of boycott claims.

More here:
- The Guardian

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Stanley Ng

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