emc: 2011 year in review
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Essential Media Communications 2011 Year in ReviewTRANSCRIPT
12011 The year in review
The year in review
www.essentialmedia.com.au
2 32011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Directors Tony Douglas
Elizabeth Lukin
Chris Perkins
Peter Lewis
Chief Operating Officer Carla Stacey
International Gemma Swart
Communications team Adrian Dodd
Ben Ruse
Victoria Purman
Stephen Dawson
Fiona Nixon
Jeana Vithoulkas
Kate Bell
Claire Johnston
Claire O’Rourke
Jackie Woods
StewartPrins
Paul Sheridan
Brett Young
Elissa Jenkins
Edwina Freeme
Anastasia Stomo
Stephanie DeCampo
David Imber
Martin Watters
Laura Maclean
Olivia Greentree
Anaya Latter
Digital and production Stuart Gillies
Oliver Woodley
Research team Andrew Bunn
Kate Whelan
Rhea Dhillon
Deborah Corrigall
Finance and admin Alison Jackson
Denise Jaffrey
Rachel Rees
Janneia Searle
Tayler Cullen
EMC Partners DCMC – Dave Mcleod
Your Source
Corner Store Productions – Ben Gregg
Hyve Creative -
Andrew Hercus and Rebecca Coram
A message from EMC’s DirectorsA calendar year is an arbitrary measure, but
useful nonetheless.
Years allow us to mark time, to set challenges,
to gauge achievement – in our world, to plan
and execute the campaigns that make a
difference for Australia.
But more fundamentally, years provide the
anchor points to our history, the chapters that
combine to become our story.
2011 was a year the progressive and
membership organisations we work with
achieved real progress in advocating for a
better world.
As this report documents, while the political
narrative was one of a Government under siege,
the reality was that 2011 saw real progress:
in dealing with climate change
in securing better protection for disabled
Australians
in re-imagining indigenous Australians’
place in the nation
in reeling in the power of the mining
industry
and in dozens of other battles where
the interests of the ordinary Australians
were given voice by the member-based
organisations whose advocacy work plays
such a vital role in improving the quality of
our society.
EMC was honoured to share this journey with
our clients. We hope this book becomes a
memento of the great things we have achieved
together.
Chris Perkins, Peter Lewis, Tony Douglas,
Elizabeth Lukin
www.essentialmedia.com.au
2 32011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Directors Tony Douglas
Elizabeth Lukin
Chris Perkins
Peter Lewis
Chief Operating Officer Carla Stacey
International Gemma Swart
Communications team Adrian Dodd
Ben Ruse
Victoria Purman
Stephen Dawson
Fiona Nixon
Jeana Vithoulkas
Kate Bell
Claire Johnston
Claire O’Rourke
Jackie Woods
StewartPrins
Paul Sheridan
Brett Young
Elissa Jenkins
Edwina Freeme
Anastasia Stomo
Stephanie DeCampo
David Imber
Martin Watters
Laura Maclean
Olivia Greentree
Anaya Latter
Digital and production Stuart Gillies
Oliver Woodley
Research team Andrew Bunn
Kate Whelan
Rhea Dhillon
Deborah Corrigall
Finance and admin Alison Jackson
Denise Jaffrey
Rachel Rees
Janneia Searle
Tayler Cullen
EMC Partners DCMC – Dave Mcleod
Your Source
Corner Store Productions – Ben Gregg
Hyve Creative -
Andrew Hercus and Rebecca Coram
A message from EMC’s DirectorsA calendar year is an arbitrary measure, but
useful nonetheless.
Years allow us to mark time, to set challenges,
to gauge achievement – in our world, to plan
and execute the campaigns that make a
difference for Australia.
But more fundamentally, years provide the
anchor points to our history, the chapters that
combine to become our story.
2011 was a year the progressive and
membership organisations we work with
achieved real progress in advocating for a
better world.
As this report documents, while the political
narrative was one of a Government under siege,
the reality was that 2011 saw real progress:
in dealing with climate change
in securing better protection for disabled
Australians
in re-imagining indigenous Australians’
place in the nation
in reeling in the power of the mining
industry
and in dozens of other battles where
the interests of the ordinary Australians
were given voice by the member-based
organisations whose advocacy work plays
such a vital role in improving the quality of
our society.
EMC was honoured to share this journey with
our clients. We hope this book becomes a
memento of the great things we have achieved
together.
Chris Perkins, Peter Lewis, Tony Douglas,
Elizabeth Lukin
www.essentialmedia.com.au
4 52011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Every Monday EMC releases the Essential Report, which is becoming one of the nation’s most significant political polls.
We ask the usual questions about voting intention and preferred leader, but thanks to our partnership with Your Source, we have the opportunity to ask much more than that.
In a era where polling is derided as superficial and destructive, the Essential Report can tap into the national zeitgeist by digging deep into the public’s attitudes to issues, even as they are unfolding.
For example in 2011, led by our incisive Research Director Andrew Bunn, we found:
opposition for a carbon price washes away when compensation and investment in renewables are explained
support for a mining tax that is much stronger than the mining industry would have us believe
that facts make a real difference in the asylum seeker debate if given a chance
blame being attributed for Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s decision to ground the airline, even as the tabloids were painting him as a hero.
Releasing these results into the public every week, EMC was able to contribute to these public debates by putting the views of the general public into debates otherwise controlled by
cashed-up interests.
Charting the
National Mood By the Numbers2011 was the year of the big dip for the Gillard Government. After returning from a summer dominated by natural disasters with a slight poll lead, the PM and Party Ratings fell with the announcement of the Carbon Price, neatly packaged as the ‘Big Lie’ by the Opposition.
The government wallowed with a primary vote in the low 30s through much of the year as Tony Abbott terrorised every small business in the Queanbeyan region with his set-piece television stunts warning of carbon tax Armageddon.
Labor stabilised as its twin taxes became law and Qantas grounded its jets, for a moment each side of politics doing what is expected of them.
And while the Opposition strutted through 2011 as a front-runner, it ended the year with Labor in touch and the sneaking suspicion that the relentless negativity of their leader might be its biggest hurdle in translating poll dominance into electoral success.
The Essential Report has
established itself as a credible
pulse on the nation’s mood. The
weekly poll is always relevant,
often the first to test support
on topical issues and is keenly
watched by insiders every
Monday.
David Speers, Sky News
2 party preferred - 2011
Preferred Prime Minister - 2011
NO! NO! NO! The ALP commissioned EMC to produce a viral ad extolling the negative tactics of Tony Abbott. The Day in a Life saw the Mad Monk saying no to everything from the alarm clock to budgie smugglers to carbon change – in fact, no to everything except WorkChoices
4 52011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
4 52011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Every Monday EMC releases the Essential Report, which is becoming one of the nation’s most significant political polls.
We ask the usual questions about voting intention and preferred leader, but thanks to our partnership with Your Source, we have the opportunity to ask much more than that.
In a era where polling is derided as superficial and destructive, the Essential Report can tap into the national zeitgeist by digging deep into the public’s attitudes to issues, even as they are unfolding.
For example in 2011, led by our incisive Research Director Andrew Bunn, we found:
opposition for a carbon price washes away when compensation and investment in renewables are explained
support for a mining tax that is much stronger than the mining industry would have us believe
that facts make a real difference in the asylum seeker debate if given a chance
blame being attributed for Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s decision to ground the airline, even as the tabloids were painting him as a hero.
Releasing these results into the public every week, EMC was able to contribute to these public debates by putting the views of the general public into debates otherwise controlled by
cashed-up interests.
Charting the
National Mood By the Numbers2011 was the year of the big dip for the Gillard Government. After returning from a summer dominated by natural disasters with a slight poll lead, the PM and Party Ratings fell with the announcement of the Carbon Price, neatly packaged as the ‘Big Lie’ by the Opposition.
The government wallowed with a primary vote in the low 30s through much of the year as Tony Abbott terrorised every small business in the Queanbeyan region with his set-piece television stunts warning of carbon tax Armageddon.
Labor stabilised as its twin taxes became law and Qantas grounded its jets, for a moment each side of politics doing what is expected of them.
And while the Opposition strutted through 2011 as a front-runner, it ended the year with Labor in touch and the sneaking suspicion that the relentless negativity of their leader might be its biggest hurdle in translating poll dominance into electoral success.
The Essential Report has
established itself as a credible
pulse on the nation’s mood. The
weekly poll is always relevant,
often the first to test support
on topical issues and is keenly
watched by insiders every
Monday.
David Speers, Sky News
2 party preferred - 2011
Preferred Prime Minister - 2011
NO! NO! NO! The ALP commissioned EMC to produce a viral ad extolling the negative tactics of Tony Abbott. The Day in a Life saw the Mad Monk saying no to everything from the alarm clock to budgie smugglers to carbon change – in fact, no to everything except WorkChoices
4 52011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
6 72011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Hitting 100,000 It seemed like an incredible target – secure 100,000 supporters to a campaign for National
Disability Insurance Scheme in 2012.
What it represented was 12 months of hard toil by EMC’s digital team in partnership with the
NDIS campaign committee.
It meant engaging with hundreds of organisations and helping them mobilise their
existing networks
It meant coming up with a program of events to keep supporters engaged and motivated
It meant integrated websites, social media and on-the-ground events like the inaugural
DisabiliTEA event, where 40,000 people turned up to 900 events around Australia.
And it meant remaining focused on our target every day of the campaign.
Around Christmas the tally will tick over to 100,000 and we will have created something the
disability sector has never really had – a connected network of passionate, talented people who
are getting their first taste of exercising power.
This story is far from over - it’s only just begun.
Cover
Having placed homelessness on the political
agenda for the 2007 election – remember
Kevin’s sleep-outs? – the Australians for
Affordable Housing coalition reformed in 2011.
As the economy tightens, the alliance of 65
organisations will give voice to the interests
on the one in ten Australians who are either
homeless or facing housing stress.
Giving a Voice to
the Marginalised
Every Australian CountsImagine if there were a group of Australians who were treated
differently to their fellow citizens, who didn’t have the right to
work, to access public facilities, to have the chance to make a life
for themselves.
800,000 Australians living with a disability face just that, thanks to an antiquated, under-
funded and dysfunctional system that sees many relying on aging parents or locked away
in nursing homes when, with a little support, they could be contributing to the nation.
Through the ‘Every Australian Counts’ campaign, EMC has been working with the
sector to campaign for the game-change - a comprehensive national insurance that
will provide every disabled person the support they need.
With a focus on building a community of activists and then engaging with local MPs,
the campaign has achieved what some thought was impossible in this war-torn federal
Parliament – bi-partisan support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
And when campaign champions Rhonda Galbally, Paul Brock and Peter Darch fronted the
National Press Club in November you could sense the significance of their achievement –
the journalists stopped talking politics and, for a moment, actually listened.
As a campaign veteran, even
I learned some new tricks as
EMC’s team drove us to really
integrate an online strategy with
our community campaign.
John Della Bosca, National Disability
Insurance Scheme, Campaign Director
Giving a Voice to
the Marginalised AUSTRALIANS FOR
AFFORDABLEHOUSING
HousingStressed.org.au
Revolutionising disability services
72011 The year in review
6 72011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Hitting 100,000 It seemed like an incredible target – secure 100,000 supporters to a campaign for National
Disability Insurance Scheme in 2012.
What it represented was 12 months of hard toil by EMC’s digital team in partnership with the
NDIS campaign committee.
It meant engaging with hundreds of organisations and helping them mobilise their
existing networks
It meant coming up with a program of events to keep supporters engaged and motivated
It meant integrated websites, social media and on-the-ground events like the inaugural
DisabiliTEA event, where 40,000 people turned up to 900 events around Australia.
And it meant remaining focused on our target every day of the campaign.
Around Christmas the tally will tick over to 100,000 and we will have created something the
disability sector has never really had – a connected network of passionate, talented people who
are getting their first taste of exercising power.
This story is far from over - it’s only just begun.
Cover
Having placed homelessness on the political
agenda for the 2007 election – remember
Kevin’s sleep-outs? – the Australians for
Affordable Housing coalition reformed in 2011.
As the economy tightens, the alliance of 65
organisations will give voice to the interests
on the one in ten Australians who are either
homeless or facing housing stress.
Giving a Voice to
the Marginalised
Every Australian CountsImagine if there were a group of Australians who were treated
differently to their fellow citizens, who didn’t have the right to
work, to access public facilities, to have the chance to make a life
for themselves.
800,000 Australians living with a disability face just that, thanks to an antiquated, under-
funded and dysfunctional system that sees many relying on aging parents or locked away
in nursing homes when, with a little support, they could be contributing to the nation.
Through the ‘Every Australian Counts’ campaign, EMC has been working with the
sector to campaign for the game-change - a comprehensive national insurance that
will provide every disabled person the support they need.
With a focus on building a community of activists and then engaging with local MPs,
the campaign has achieved what some thought was impossible in this war-torn federal
Parliament – bi-partisan support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme.
And when campaign champions Rhonda Galbally, Paul Brock and Peter Darch fronted the
National Press Club in November you could sense the significance of their achievement –
the journalists stopped talking politics and, for a moment, actually listened.
As a campaign veteran, even
I learned some new tricks as
EMC’s team drove us to really
integrate an online strategy with
our community campaign.
John Della Bosca, National Disability
Insurance Scheme, Campaign Director
Giving a Voice to
the Marginalised AUSTRALIANS FOR
AFFORDABLEHOUSING
HousingStressed.org.au
Revolutionising disability services
72011 The year in review
8 92011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Kisses to CanberraIn politics nothing comes easy, and the PMs commitment
was the result of more than 18 months of campaigning by
the ASU.
Originally a ‘war game’ at the 2010 EMC Summer School, ‘
No More Lip Service’ became the campaign call to action.
ASU members sent the PM postcards, uploaded messages in
a YouTube ‘kissing booth’, took their message to local MPs and
took to the streets, where an Elvis impersonator led members
in a flash mob to the tune of ‘A little less conversation’.
A Fairer Society
When the Prime Minister brings out her 2011 brag book in years to come, her decision to endorse
the Australian Services Union’s (ASU) Equal Pay Case will be high on her list.
In a former rail yard in Sydney’s Redfern, Julia Gillard announced her government’s support for
the case, which would revise the wages of the predominantly female workforce in the Social and
Community Services sector.
Applying provisions in Labor’s Fair Work Act, the ASU case was based on a simple principle: real
gender equality will not be secured until the work women do is recognised as being as valuable
as men’s work.
A case in point: you are paid more to look after plants than look after kids.
But one of the sticking points was always going to be: who pays? And in committing to fund
the outcome of the case, the PM removed one of the significant practical barriers the ASU
team faced.
Broader SecurityEMC worked with the ACTU to conduct the largest survey of workers
Australian unions have ever conducted – the Working Australia Census
2011. The census identified job security and non-permanent work
arrangements as a major concern for union members.
Forty percent of workers are now employed in a non-secure
arrangement, including casual and contracting.
The scourge of insecure work has been identified as a major driver of
family breakdown, economic insecurity and household stress.
EMC worked with the ACTU to develop the Secure Jobs, Better Future
campaign - a platform to give insecure workers a counter to the
constant pressure of outsourcing and contracting.
The national inquiry, to be chaired by former Hawke Government
Minister Brian Howe will provide a fresh opportunity to determine
what constitutes a decent job and how governments, unions and
employers can work together to turn back the tide of insecure work
arrangements.
Stand by for the employers to start the screeching.
Marriage EqualityThe marriage equality debate peaked in 2011 and EMC was there, working with a coalition of
GLTBI organisations to demonstrate how marriage equality is an issue for all Australians,
and every family.
Most Australians know a gay or lesbian person - a daughter, son, niece, nephew, uncle,
aunt or cousin, a friend or a work colleague.
Informed by research, EMC developed a website that encouraged people to say
“I support Marriage Equality”. The site asked people to submit their stories and photos
that said why marriage was important to them.
More than 60 people who told their stories travelled to Canberra to lobby their
Federal MPs in a national day of action in October.
The ALP’s platform change to support marriage equality will see this campaign reach
new heights in 2012, and EMC aims to be at the heart of the action.
8 92011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
8 92011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Kisses to CanberraIn politics nothing comes easy, and the PMs commitment
was the result of more than 18 months of campaigning by
the ASU.
Originally a ‘war game’ at the 2010 EMC Summer School, ‘
No More Lip Service’ became the campaign call to action.
ASU members sent the PM postcards, uploaded messages in
a YouTube ‘kissing booth’, took their message to local MPs and
took to the streets, where an Elvis impersonator led members
in a flash mob to the tune of ‘A little less conversation’.
A Fairer Society
When the Prime Minister brings out her 2011 brag book in years to come, her decision to endorse
the Australian Services Union’s (ASU) Equal Pay Case will be high on her list.
In a former rail yard in Sydney’s Redfern, Julia Gillard announced her government’s support for
the case, which would revise the wages of the predominantly female workforce in the Social and
Community Services sector.
Applying provisions in Labor’s Fair Work Act, the ASU case was based on a simple principle: real
gender equality will not be secured until the work women do is recognised as being as valuable
as men’s work.
A case in point: you are paid more to look after plants than look after kids.
But one of the sticking points was always going to be: who pays? And in committing to fund
the outcome of the case, the PM removed one of the significant practical barriers the ASU
team faced.
Broader SecurityEMC worked with the ACTU to conduct the largest survey of workers
Australian unions have ever conducted – the Working Australia Census
2011. The census identified job security and non-permanent work
arrangements as a major concern for union members.
Forty percent of workers are now employed in a non-secure
arrangement, including casual and contracting.
The scourge of insecure work has been identified as a major driver of
family breakdown, economic insecurity and household stress.
EMC worked with the ACTU to develop the Secure Jobs, Better Future
campaign - a platform to give insecure workers a counter to the
constant pressure of outsourcing and contracting.
The national inquiry, to be chaired by former Hawke Government
Minister Brian Howe will provide a fresh opportunity to determine
what constitutes a decent job and how governments, unions and
employers can work together to turn back the tide of insecure work
arrangements.
Stand by for the employers to start the screeching.
Marriage EqualityThe marriage equality debate peaked in 2011 and EMC was there, working with a coalition of
GLTBI organisations to demonstrate how marriage equality is an issue for all Australians,
and every family.
Most Australians know a gay or lesbian person - a daughter, son, niece, nephew, uncle,
aunt or cousin, a friend or a work colleague.
Informed by research, EMC developed a website that encouraged people to say
“I support Marriage Equality”. The site asked people to submit their stories and photos
that said why marriage was important to them.
More than 60 people who told their stories travelled to Canberra to lobby their
Federal MPs in a national day of action in October.
The ALP’s platform change to support marriage equality will see this campaign reach
new heights in 2012, and EMC aims to be at the heart of the action.
8 92011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
10 112011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
2011 may have been the year Australia embarked along the clean
energy journey, but few could have predicted the travails the
government would face getting its carbon pricing scheme up.
As the manufactured panic over the ‘Big New Tax on Everything’ reached a crescendo, EMC
worked with important clients to inject some sanity into the debate.
As the climate sceptics and deniers hijacked the debate, EMC rebranded and relaunched the
peak body of Australian scientists as Science & Technology Australia (STA) and mobilised the
‘Respect the Science’ campaign to build understanding of the authoritative and rigorous way
science is actually created.
A sceptical discipline by nature, science became a casualty of the bitter war, a point reinforced when
STA CEO Anna-Maria Arabia received death threats on the morning she launched the campaign.
Meanwhile, the AMWU made the case for the
benefits of investments in renewable energy,
pointing to the job creation opportunities in
blue collar sector of the industry.
The AMWU’s work included a series of delegate
workshops, where shop stewards were given
the tools to explain the carbon price.
While Carbon Cate may have dominated
the a 24-hour news cycle, it was this quiet,
consistent advocacy across the union and
environment movements that was critical to
taking some of the heat out of what became
an over-boiled debate.
The Big BlueAfter three years of work with the Pew Environment Group, EMC’s Save Our
Marine Life campaign in support of marine sanctuaries in Australia’s South
West finally bore fruit.
Deploying an online community of 35,000 supporters, the campaign flooded the federal government with more than 40,000 submissions
in support of sanctuaries during the government’s formal public consultation, a record for an Australian environment issue.
With less than 1% of the South West currently protected from over fishing and oil spills, the Save Our Marine Life campaign has created
the political space within which Environment Minister Tony Burke can deliver a ground-breaking win for the environment.
Within reach now is one of the highest levels of protection in the world for a region that was ignored and almost completely unknown
three years ago, despite having a greater level of unique marine life than the Great Barrier Reef.
If we are to save our natural heritage, public debate can’t afford to become wedged between protecting the environment or protecting jobs and local economies. In the South West people have realised that jobs and economic opportunity depend on securing a healthy environment. Paul Sheridan, EMC Associate Director, Environment & Science
Clean energy
future
Wood for the TreesCarbon wasn’t the only green game in town
– after decades of struggle, The Wilderness
Society (an EMC foundation client) finally
succeeded in securing the future of Tasmania’s
native forests.
Two important game-changers occurred in 2011.
First, a shaky agreement between
environmentalists, unions and the state
government was locked in when federal
environment minister Tony Burke committed
$276 million to support timber communities to
adjust to a deal to end logging and also protect
around 430,000 hectares of native forests.
Then, a consortium headed by green
philanthropists Graeme Wood and Jan Cameron
purchased a key timber mill to break a deadlock
over logging, installing former TWS chief Alec Marr
in a move that signalled the three decade long
dispute over native forests was almost at an end.
10 112011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
2011 may have been the year Australia embarked along the clean
energy journey, but few could have predicted the travails the
government would face getting its carbon pricing scheme up.
As the manufactured panic over the ‘Big New Tax on Everything’ reached a crescendo, EMC
worked with important clients to inject some sanity into the debate.
As the climate sceptics and deniers hijacked the debate, EMC rebranded and relaunched the
peak body of Australian scientists as Science & Technology Australia (STA) and mobilised the
‘Respect the Science’ campaign to build understanding of the authoritative and rigorous way
science is actually created.
A sceptical discipline by nature, science became a casualty of the bitter war, a point reinforced when
STA CEO Anna-Maria Arabia received death threats on the morning she launched the campaign.
Meanwhile, the AMWU made the case for the
benefits of investments in renewable energy,
pointing to the job creation opportunities in
blue collar sector of the industry.
The AMWU’s work included a series of delegate
workshops, where shop stewards were given
the tools to explain the carbon price.
While Carbon Cate may have dominated
the a 24-hour news cycle, it was this quiet,
consistent advocacy across the union and
environment movements that was critical to
taking some of the heat out of what became
an over-boiled debate.
The Big BlueAfter three years of work with the Pew Environment Group, EMC’s Save Our
Marine Life campaign in support of marine sanctuaries in Australia’s South
West finally bore fruit.
Deploying an online community of 35,000 supporters, the campaign flooded the federal government with more than 40,000 submissions
in support of sanctuaries during the government’s formal public consultation, a record for an Australian environment issue.
With less than 1% of the South West currently protected from over fishing and oil spills, the Save Our Marine Life campaign has created
the political space within which Environment Minister Tony Burke can deliver a ground-breaking win for the environment.
Within reach now is one of the highest levels of protection in the world for a region that was ignored and almost completely unknown
three years ago, despite having a greater level of unique marine life than the Great Barrier Reef.
If we are to save our natural heritage, public debate can’t afford to become wedged between protecting the environment or protecting jobs and local economies. In the South West people have realised that jobs and economic opportunity depend on securing a healthy environment. Paul Sheridan, EMC Associate Director, Environment & Science
Clean energy
future
Wood for the TreesCarbon wasn’t the only green game in town
– after decades of struggle, The Wilderness
Society (an EMC foundation client) finally
succeeded in securing the future of Tasmania’s
native forests.
Two important game-changers occurred in 2011.
First, a shaky agreement between
environmentalists, unions and the state
government was locked in when federal
environment minister Tony Burke committed
$276 million to support timber communities to
adjust to a deal to end logging and also protect
around 430,000 hectares of native forests.
Then, a consortium headed by green
philanthropists Graeme Wood and Jan Cameron
purchased a key timber mill to break a deadlock
over logging, installing former TWS chief Alec Marr
in a move that signalled the three decade long
dispute over native forests was almost at an end.
12 132011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Fair go! Corporate Australia
The great Rock’n’Coal Swindle that saw the Australian mining industry wriggle out the Resource
Super Profit Tax in 2010 is now the stuff of political folklore, but in 2011 Australian corporates
were still throwing their weight around – positioning themselves as the victims of unfair imposts
on their profits and Labor’s work laws that wound back their much loved WorkChoices.
EMC clients campaigned hard to hold corporate Australia to account in a range of high profile
bargaining disputes, while working with the CFMEU to stare down the mining lobby as it wallowed
in unprecedented profits.
As BHP Billiton logged record profits of $23 billion off the back
of record prices for Australian resources, coal mineworkers in central Queensland have been in
bargaining for a full year trying to make progress on issues like family-friendly shifts and rosters
and the provision of decent housing in mining towns bursting at the seams.
For their wives, who struggle to hold families together and pay exorbitant costs for the basics
of life, enough was enough. The women fronted a TV advertisement that caused a storm in
Queensland comparing the BHP of today with the friendlier company it used to be.
They’ve continued to serve it up to BHP, travelling to the company’s Brisbane headquarters with a
simple question for BHP CEO Marius Kloppers – when are you going to get out of your corporate
HQ and see what life is like for your workers?
They also made the pilgrimage to the AGM in Melbourne, where Kloppers sought them out for a
photo-op, although he is still squibbing on the invite to the Bowen Basin.
When Tasmanian workers at Rio Tinto’s Bell
Bay smelter were told during EBA talks that they weren’t worth the
same as mainland workers, they saw red.
The AWU commissioned EMC to develop a guerrilla campaign, which
saw a bloated Rio kicking the Apple Isle into the mid-Pacific.
When AWU National Secretary Paul Howes visited the workers and
heard their kids shouting out the tagline ‘Fair go, Rio’ he knew the
message had cut through.
When Qantas CEO Alan Joyce made the most aggressive
industrial play since Chris Corrigan sent the dogs onto the wharves,
EMC was there supporting our clients the ACTU
and the ALAEA.
With a disciplined and coordinated
response, unions succeeded in
swinging public opinion against the
airline and placing pressure over its
offshoring plans.
Corporate bastardy is not limited to the resources sector.
Foxtel, which farms out its payTV installation work to individual
subcontractors, denies it has any responsibility over installers’
pay or work conditions – even when their contracts have seen
pay head south for a decade while imposing harsh fines if
subbies are sick or take extra time on a complex job.
EMC is working with the CEPU to expose Foxtel’s underhanded
employment tactics. Fair go! BHP
Mining families to BHP: When you had less you cared more
Fair go! RIO
Fair go! Qantas
Don't know20% 8%
41%
Both equally
Qantas workers
Qantas management
31%
Blame for Qantas Grounding - Qantas management or the workers?
The night of the Qantas
groundings was surreal, the
feeling down at Fair Work
Australia was that the company
thought they had played a smart
move. How wrong they were.
EMC Director, Elizabeth Lukin12 132011 The year in review
12 132011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Fair go! Corporate Australia
The great Rock’n’Coal Swindle that saw the Australian mining industry wriggle out the Resource
Super Profit Tax in 2010 is now the stuff of political folklore, but in 2011 Australian corporates
were still throwing their weight around – positioning themselves as the victims of unfair imposts
on their profits and Labor’s work laws that wound back their much loved WorkChoices.
EMC clients campaigned hard to hold corporate Australia to account in a range of high profile
bargaining disputes, while working with the CFMEU to stare down the mining lobby as it wallowed
in unprecedented profits.
As BHP Billiton logged record profits of $23 billion off the back
of record prices for Australian resources, coal mineworkers in central Queensland have been in
bargaining for a full year trying to make progress on issues like family-friendly shifts and rosters
and the provision of decent housing in mining towns bursting at the seams.
For their wives, who struggle to hold families together and pay exorbitant costs for the basics
of life, enough was enough. The women fronted a TV advertisement that caused a storm in
Queensland comparing the BHP of today with the friendlier company it used to be.
They’ve continued to serve it up to BHP, travelling to the company’s Brisbane headquarters with a
simple question for BHP CEO Marius Kloppers – when are you going to get out of your corporate
HQ and see what life is like for your workers?
They also made the pilgrimage to the AGM in Melbourne, where Kloppers sought them out for a
photo-op, although he is still squibbing on the invite to the Bowen Basin.
When Tasmanian workers at Rio Tinto’s Bell
Bay smelter were told during EBA talks that they weren’t worth the
same as mainland workers, they saw red.
The AWU commissioned EMC to develop a guerrilla campaign, which
saw a bloated Rio kicking the Apple Isle into the mid-Pacific.
When AWU National Secretary Paul Howes visited the workers and
heard their kids shouting out the tagline ‘Fair go, Rio’ he knew the
message had cut through.
When Qantas CEO Alan Joyce made the most aggressive
industrial play since Chris Corrigan sent the dogs onto the wharves,
EMC was there supporting our clients the ACTU
and the ALAEA.
With a disciplined and coordinated
response, unions succeeded in
swinging public opinion against the
airline and placing pressure over its
offshoring plans.
Corporate bastardy is not limited to the resources sector.
Foxtel, which farms out its payTV installation work to individual
subcontractors, denies it has any responsibility over installers’
pay or work conditions – even when their contracts have seen
pay head south for a decade while imposing harsh fines if
subbies are sick or take extra time on a complex job.
EMC is working with the CEPU to expose Foxtel’s underhanded
employment tactics. Fair go! BHP
Mining families to BHP: When you had less you cared more
Fair go! RIO
Fair go! Qantas
Don't know20% 8%
41%
Both equally
Qantas workers
Qantas management
31%
Blame for Qantas Grounding - Qantas management or the workers?
The night of the Qantas
groundings was surreal, the
feeling down at Fair Work
Australia was that the company
thought they had played a smart
move. How wrong they were.
EMC Director, Elizabeth Lukin12 132011 The year in review
14 152011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
A New Story for
Indigenous AustraliaPerhaps the most profound change in Australian politics in recent years has been the emergence
of Aboriginal leaders in control of a commodity that they have never had before – land.
The end result of the land rights and native title struggles has been indigenous organisations
with land they control, providing an opportunity to embark on development that will deliver
income to their communities.
This changed dynamic has shifted the tenor of indigenous politics from one of welfare to
economic sovereignty, a shift that comes with a whole new set of challenges.
EMC has been proud to work with Aboriginal Land Councils – from desert and the city – as
they have navigated their organisations through this new environment.
Kimberley Land CouncilEMC has worked closely with the KLC who under the leadership of first Wayne Bergmann and now Nolan
Hunter.
Key moments in 2011 have been the successful bid to secure World Heritage Listing for the West Kimberley,
cementing the region as a strong and significant Aboriginal place and ensuring heritage values are now
recognised under national environmental law.
Meanwhile in June 2011 as the recognised native title representative body for the Kimberley region, the KLC
assisted the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr Traditional Owners sign a Native Title Agreement with Woodside and the
State of Western Australia for the site of a proposed gas hub at James Price Point.
The agreement will enable high level Traditional Owner cultural and economic engagement in the proposed Browse Basin LNG project. Through
the Agreement, Traditional Owners have prevented further LNG development on the Kimberley coastline and have reserved all rights to oppose the
development on environmental grounds.
Through shrewd and sometimes tough negotiations, the KLC has not only balanced the culture, environment
and economy of the region, they are building a roadmap for other indigenous communities.
Gandangara Land CouncilMeanwhile, in south-western Sydney, Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council is responsible for
Australia’s biggest Aboriginal-owned project, a billion dollar bushland development at Heathcote Ridge.
Gandangara has a vision to use its assets to break welfare dependency and build hope with long-
term education, employment, training and health programs - all funded by its visionary sustainable
development and conservation park.
The project will protect forever a
conservation reserve more than twice the size of Sydney’s
Centennial Park, provide land for up to 3000 houses and an employment zone for
around 15,000 jobs.
It will not only help ease Sydney’s housing crisis and provide live/work opportunities
for Shire residents but will deliver over $100 million in infrastructure upgrades.
Most significantly the project will fulfil Gandangara’s vision to raise capital to expand health,
education, housing and employment programs for Aboriginal people in Sydney’s south west
to help them gain independence and achieve self-determination for the long term.
EMC has advised GLALC leader Jack Johnson through community consultations,
lobbying and media engagement, as well as creating the project website.
Spend a few hours with Jack
Johnson and you get an idea of
what true political leadership
is about – vision, intellect,
the courage to put ideas into
practise – and a pretty robust
discussion to boot!
Chris Perkins, EMC Director
14 152011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
A New Story for
Indigenous AustraliaPerhaps the most profound change in Australian politics in recent years has been the emergence
of Aboriginal leaders in control of a commodity that they have never had before – land.
The end result of the land rights and native title struggles has been indigenous organisations
with land they control, providing an opportunity to embark on development that will deliver
income to their communities.
This changed dynamic has shifted the tenor of indigenous politics from one of welfare to
economic sovereignty, a shift that comes with a whole new set of challenges.
EMC has been proud to work with Aboriginal Land Councils – from desert and the city – as
they have navigated their organisations through this new environment.
Kimberley Land CouncilEMC has worked closely with the KLC who under the leadership of first Wayne Bergmann and now Nolan
Hunter.
Key moments in 2011 have been the successful bid to secure World Heritage Listing for the West Kimberley,
cementing the region as a strong and significant Aboriginal place and ensuring heritage values are now
recognised under national environmental law.
Meanwhile in June 2011 as the recognised native title representative body for the Kimberley region, the KLC
assisted the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr Traditional Owners sign a Native Title Agreement with Woodside and the
State of Western Australia for the site of a proposed gas hub at James Price Point.
The agreement will enable high level Traditional Owner cultural and economic engagement in the proposed Browse Basin LNG project. Through
the Agreement, Traditional Owners have prevented further LNG development on the Kimberley coastline and have reserved all rights to oppose the
development on environmental grounds.
Through shrewd and sometimes tough negotiations, the KLC has not only balanced the culture, environment
and economy of the region, they are building a roadmap for other indigenous communities.
Gandangara Land CouncilMeanwhile, in south-western Sydney, Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council is responsible for
Australia’s biggest Aboriginal-owned project, a billion dollar bushland development at Heathcote Ridge.
Gandangara has a vision to use its assets to break welfare dependency and build hope with long-
term education, employment, training and health programs - all funded by its visionary sustainable
development and conservation park.
The project will protect forever a
conservation reserve more than twice the size of Sydney’s
Centennial Park, provide land for up to 3000 houses and an employment zone for
around 15,000 jobs.
It will not only help ease Sydney’s housing crisis and provide live/work opportunities
for Shire residents but will deliver over $100 million in infrastructure upgrades.
Most significantly the project will fulfil Gandangara’s vision to raise capital to expand health,
education, housing and employment programs for Aboriginal people in Sydney’s south west
to help them gain independence and achieve self-determination for the long term.
EMC has advised GLALC leader Jack Johnson through community consultations,
lobbying and media engagement, as well as creating the project website.
Spend a few hours with Jack
Johnson and you get an idea of
what true political leadership
is about – vision, intellect,
the courage to put ideas into
practise – and a pretty robust
discussion to boot!
Chris Perkins, EMC Director
16 172011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
State of the states
Not all campaigns are national and with an expanded network of state offices in Adelaide
and Perth, EMC has helped state-based unions represent their members in trying political
circumstances.
WA
SA VIC
QLD
NSW The March election was never going to be pretty, but EMC worked with
Unions NSW to ensure Barry O’Farrell didn’t totally sail in under the radar, with a slick
TVC demanding answers before the election. Since the change of government public
sector wages have been cut, police protections hacked away and the power generators put
on the market. At least, no-one can claim they weren’t warned.
With an election due in 2012,
EMC has been working with Queensland Council
of Unions to put worker rights at the centre of the
political agenda.
Through the Charter for Working
Queenslanders, workers across the state
have the chance to put their concerns direct
to candidates and engage across the state
through a 7500 strong online supporter base.
Another new Coalition
government and more disappointment.
EMC worked with long-term client the
Australian Education Union as the Baillieu
Government took the axe to education
spending and diverted funds into the private
sector.
The Bartlett Government were
the first Tories on the block and are setting
the scene with privatisation of key elements
of the justice system on their agenda. Our
new Perth office has been working with both
the CPSU-CSA and the WA Prison Officers
Union to ensure that a government that talks
on law and order is also prepared to walk
the walk.
There may not have been a change of Government in SA, but
longstanding Premier Mike Rann stood down against a backdrop of anger
at cuts to public sector jobs and entitlements.
SA Union’s sustained public
campaign, including TV
advertisements, called for a change in
direction in SA, something new leader
Jay Weatherill appears committed to
delivering. MY SCHOOL NEEDS
16 172011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
State of the states
Not all campaigns are national and with an expanded network of state offices in Adelaide
and Perth, EMC has helped state-based unions represent their members in trying political
circumstances.
WA
SA VIC
QLD
NSW The March election was never going to be pretty, but EMC worked with
Unions NSW to ensure Barry O’Farrell didn’t totally sail in under the radar, with a slick
TVC demanding answers before the election. Since the change of government public
sector wages have been cut, police protections hacked away and the power generators put
on the market. At least, no-one can claim they weren’t warned.
With an election due in 2012,
EMC has been working with Queensland Council
of Unions to put worker rights at the centre of the
political agenda.
Through the Charter for Working
Queenslanders, workers across the state
have the chance to put their concerns direct
to candidates and engage across the state
through a 7500 strong online supporter base.
Another new Coalition
government and more disappointment.
EMC worked with long-term client the
Australian Education Union as the Baillieu
Government took the axe to education
spending and diverted funds into the private
sector.
The Bartlett Government were
the first Tories on the block and are setting
the scene with privatisation of key elements
of the justice system on their agenda. Our
new Perth office has been working with both
the CPSU-CSA and the WA Prison Officers
Union to ensure that a government that talks
on law and order is also prepared to walk
the walk.
There may not have been a change of Government in SA, but
longstanding Premier Mike Rann stood down against a backdrop of anger
at cuts to public sector jobs and entitlements.
SA Union’s sustained public
campaign, including TV
advertisements, called for a change in
direction in SA, something new leader
Jay Weatherill appears committed to
delivering. MY SCHOOL NEEDS
18 192011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Across the Tasman ...EMC worked closely with the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) to develop three television advertisements and two radio advertisements around public education funding and standards, running ahead of the November federal election.
Our research showed that like Australians, New Zealanders highly value education at all levels and overwhelmingly support greater resources for public education. However, New Zealanders were less open to negative or anti-Government political messages. The ads had a softer more positive tone than similar campaigns in Australia.
2011 was the year EMC went global, seduced to Brussels to work
alongside former ACTU chief and now International Trade Union
confederation General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
Having arrived in Europe two years ago following the 2007 ‘Rights at
Work’ election, Sharan believed that global union bodies could learn from
the campaigning methodology EMC had developed over the past decade.
With EMC Associate Director Gemma Swart, a veteran of international
aid agency Oxfam a perfect fit for the posting, EMC took the plunge and
opened our first international office.
In her first six months, Gemma has racked up the frequent flyer points
managing the ITUC’s media profile at key international events.
The Annual World Bank/IMF meetings Washington DC - as the
debt crisis in the Eurozone worsened, the ITUC asked who’s in
charge of the worlds economy - bankers or governments?
G20 Leaders Summit Cannes – securing the ITUC leader’s
Huffington Post debut on the global economic crisis and
bringing together Bill Nighy and nurses to heal an ailing world
economy with a Financial Transactions Tax.
Going global
Putting the heat on FIFA - the ITUC outlined to FIFA it’s
plans to run a campaign with workers and football fans to
stop the World Cup in Qatar because of abuses to migrant
workers who are building 9 new stadiums in ten years for
the 2022 World Cup. Global coverage from Sports Illustrated
to the Guardian. Frank Lowy would have been proud!
The UN Climate Change talks Durban. While there was
much hot air, sanity promoted by Sherpa Dorje Khatri, who
has conquered the summit of Everest seven times, and
most recently with the flag of the ITUC to raise awareness
of climate change arrived in Durban to present the flag to
climate blockers at the UN Climate Change talks.
Apart form the day to day media hubbub, EMC has commenced
working with a series of Global Union Federations to assist them
review their communications, including advising on the upcoming
merger of three of the world’s largest global bodies representing
workers in mining, manufacturing and textiles.
The View from BrusselsIn 2011, the powerful slogan of the
Occupy Movement, ‘we are the 99%’ has
ricocheted from the streets through to the
corridors of the G20 leaders summit and
the UN climate change talks. It is a simple
unifying campaign message that will re-shape
international campaigning in 2012.
Gemma Swart. Associate Director, International
18 192011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
18 192011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
Across the Tasman ...EMC worked closely with the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) to develop three television advertisements and two radio advertisements around public education funding and standards, running ahead of the November federal election.
Our research showed that like Australians, New Zealanders highly value education at all levels and overwhelmingly support greater resources for public education. However, New Zealanders were less open to negative or anti-Government political messages. The ads had a softer more positive tone than similar campaigns in Australia.
2011 was the year EMC went global, seduced to Brussels to work
alongside former ACTU chief and now International Trade Union
confederation General Secretary Sharan Burrow.
Having arrived in Europe two years ago following the 2007 ‘Rights at
Work’ election, Sharan believed that global union bodies could learn from
the campaigning methodology EMC had developed over the past decade.
With EMC Associate Director Gemma Swart, a veteran of international
aid agency Oxfam a perfect fit for the posting, EMC took the plunge and
opened our first international office.
In her first six months, Gemma has racked up the frequent flyer points
managing the ITUC’s media profile at key international events.
The Annual World Bank/IMF meetings Washington DC - as the
debt crisis in the Eurozone worsened, the ITUC asked who’s in
charge of the worlds economy - bankers or governments?
G20 Leaders Summit Cannes – securing the ITUC leader’s
Huffington Post debut on the global economic crisis and
bringing together Bill Nighy and nurses to heal an ailing world
economy with a Financial Transactions Tax.
Going global
Putting the heat on FIFA - the ITUC outlined to FIFA it’s
plans to run a campaign with workers and football fans to
stop the World Cup in Qatar because of abuses to migrant
workers who are building 9 new stadiums in ten years for
the 2022 World Cup. Global coverage from Sports Illustrated
to the Guardian. Frank Lowy would have been proud!
The UN Climate Change talks Durban. While there was
much hot air, sanity promoted by Sherpa Dorje Khatri, who
has conquered the summit of Everest seven times, and
most recently with the flag of the ITUC to raise awareness
of climate change arrived in Durban to present the flag to
climate blockers at the UN Climate Change talks.
Apart form the day to day media hubbub, EMC has commenced
working with a series of Global Union Federations to assist them
review their communications, including advising on the upcoming
merger of three of the world’s largest global bodies representing
workers in mining, manufacturing and textiles.
The View from BrusselsIn 2011, the powerful slogan of the
Occupy Movement, ‘we are the 99%’ has
ricocheted from the streets through to the
corridors of the G20 leaders summit and
the UN climate change talks. It is a simple
unifying campaign message that will re-shape
international campaigning in 2012.
Gemma Swart. Associate Director, International
18 192011 The year in review 2011 The year in review
20 2011 The year in review
2011 was a huge year, but we are already in the blocks for 2012.
Stand by for the launch of Essential Vision, our online video hub that will aggregate
content filmed in our new TV studio, ‘The Cellar’ being built in the bowels of the NSW
Trades Hall.
With the support of 12 initial partners, Essential Vision will produce member-focused
talk shows that promote intelligent policy discussions on issues that matter.
Our pilot project is ‘Three Questions’ a weekly panel show to be hosted by author and
broadcaster Sarah McDonald. It will launch in February.
We think this will create a new model for member communications, allowing our clients
to use new technology to tell their own stories, engage their members and – critically –
to support each other in a more sophisticated public debate.
ESSENTIAL VISIONThe media environment is
constantly changing and if we
don’t look over the horizon we
stop being effective. It’s great to
be part of a company with the
courage to invest in the future.
Peter Lewis, EMC Director
Next year’s
vision
www.essentialmedia.com.au