Frances Joychild KC: counsel for Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa on their High Court win

The Guardians of the Super Fund are considering their response to a High Court ruling parts of its sustainable investment policy were unreasonable and unlawful.

The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa sought a judicial review over the fund's failure to divest investment in Israeli companies complicit in illegally occupying Palestine. 

Their lawyer, Frances Joychild KC says the court has asked the Superfund to re-write its policies to align with their statutory duties.

She says the problem was that their policies didn't have any human rights standards - which could be used as benchmarks.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good afternoon. The High Court has found against the guardians
of the super Fund for failing to uphold human rights obligations.
John Mento and the Palestine Solidarity Network applied for a
judicial review regarding the super Fun's ongoing investment in Airbnb,
Motorola and a couple of other companies that trade with
the legal Israeli settlements. Francis Jeuchl Casey's Council for the
Palestine Solidarity Network, High Frances, Good afternoon. What's going to

(00:23):
happen as a result of this? Does the super Fund
necessarily have to sell its investment in these companies?

Speaker 2 (00:28):
No, what the Court has said, basically it does not
have policies that are adequate to be able to decide
whether it should sell or not. So it's asked the
super Fund to rewrite its policies to make them accord
with their statutory duties, because they don't just have duties

(00:48):
to invest the fund prudently. They have duties to invest
it in a way that does not prejudice New Zealand's
reputation as a responsible member of the world community. And
they also have duties to create policies to deal with
ethical investment. So what the problem was that there was
absolutely no human rights standards in their policies that could

(01:10):
be used as the benchmarks. So the Court has basically said,
your policies at the moment are unlawful and unreasonable. Redo them,
and then these cases can be assessed against the new policies.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
And once they do those policies, redo those policies and
then reassess these cases. Will they necessarily sell? Do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Look, that's a personal view. I think there's compelling evidence
that these four companies are complicit in human rights abuses
in the Palestine occupied territories. They have been they've been
put on the United Nations Human Rights Council's list of
one hundred and fifty eight companies that are doing business

(01:54):
in the illegal Palestine territories and are supporting and maintaining
those territories. And they so I think to me, I
cannot see how they could not be divested from.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
Okay, what are the ramifications because this has been has
been described as landmarks? What are the ramifications for other
managers of investment funds?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well, all of them had to make sure that, I
mean this day and age, for the last twenty thirty years,
there's been a real emphasis that for investors in making
sure that they are investing in funds that they're not
supporting corrupt governments or war crimes or anything like that.
And we now have universal investors don't invest in Palestine

(02:37):
in tobacco, for example. We've now got to move to
look at what a company's doing in the climate change area.
So there is now a major move that has been
happening for some time to make sure that it's particularly
for sovereign funds like New Zealand taxpayers money that they
are supporting, you know, they are not supporting grossly and

(02:59):
proper core And at the moment, there's very little in
the world that a country's doing that is more serious
in terms of grass human rights abuses than what Israel
is doing in the Palestine occupied territories.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Francis, thank you for your time, Francis. Georgeild Casey, Council
for the Palestinian Solidarity Network AULTI at.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
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