HESTA, like many funds, justifies its holdings in fossil fuel companies despite its own green commitments by promising to beand push these outfits towards a faster energy transition, but members wrote this was failing with Woodside.
With the “assess, monitor and vote” steps of HESTA’s engagement framework exhausted, they wrote, it “must now consider divestment as there has been no evidence of change from Woodside”.Melbourne mental health clinician and occupational therapist Jason Ray, who signed the letter, said he was “concerned” his and his colleagues’ superannuation was invested in fossil fuels given the damage climate change was doing to their future retirement and current working lives.
“We don’t want our retirement savings put into big fossil fuel companies, we’re not going to have a very good retirement if they’ve cooked the planet,” Mr Ray said.