GetUp
Encyclopedia
GetUp! is a left-leaning Australian activist group that campaigns on issues important to its members. It was launched in August 2005, the week that the Coalition
took control of the Australian Senate
.
GetUp campaigns are community
based, and are primarily coordinated through the Internet
. They involve email
, its website
, and traditional media
. GetUp is a non-profit organisation, and states that it relies on donations from individuals, organisations, unions and community groups for funding.
GetUp describes itself as "a new independent political movement to build a progressive Australia". They identify campaigns based on the interests of its members, which are usually issues such as "social justice, economic fairness and environmental sustainability".
, the GetUp.org.au website was launched on 1 August 2005 along with a television advertising campaign. Inspired by the American website MoveOn
.org, GetUp's initial campaign aimed to help voters to "keep the Howard Government
accountable" after it won a majority of seats in the Australian Senate
on 9 August 2005, following the Australian federal election, 2004. Although both Liberal-National Coalition
parties permit their members to cross the floor to vote against party policy, this was nevertheless the first time an Australian government had been elected to hold a majority of seats in both Houses of Parliament
since 1981.
GetUp! encouraged visitors to send an email to Coalition
senators that read "I’m sending you this message because I want you to know that I’m watching. Now that you have absolute power in the Senate, it is only people like me who can hold you accountable. And we will."
GetUp! has campaigned vocally over issues such as pressuring the Howard Government
to lobby for the release of David Hicks
into the Australian community (Hicks had been in detention at Guantanamo Bay for undertaking combat training in al Qaeda-linked camps and serving with the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001); and opposing efforts by the Rudd Government
to examine ways to implement an internet filter (Internet censorship in Australia
); and has promoted voter enrollment.
In March 2011, Getup! endorsed the controversial decision of the Gillard Labor Government
to reverse its 2010 Election promise not to introduce a carbon tax
as a means of addressing Australia's contribution to carbon emissions.
Past and current campaigns include:
.
GetUp's board members are:
Madden and Heimans ran campaigns in the United States against President George W. Bush
. Tattersall serves as Director of the Sydney Alliance. Former board members have included Evan Thornley
and Bill Shorten
who left the board to pursue political party positions, and former Liberal Party of Australia
leader John Hewson
.
. Shortly after the first GetUp! emails began to arrive, member for Wentworth
Malcolm Turnbull
said that "When you get 1,000 emails, all in exactly the same form, it's not exactly as persuasive as a bunch of emails people have written to independently express themselves." GetUp dismisses this criticism arguing that it rarely allows for form letters or emails, rather it encourages its members to write individual and handcrafted emails. This position is reflected in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which acknowledges the role of GetUp in "an age in which people were interested in political issues but no longer had the time to write letters."
said on the ABC's The 7.30 Report
that GetUp is "a front for the Labor Party
, it's a political front. They're quite entitled to do it, it's a free country, but it's a political front. That's what it is."
GetUp has repeatedly rejected this claim, reiterating that they are strictly independent and don’t have any affiliation with any political party. GetUp cites a number of campaigns which critique the Labor party, including “Your message to Labor” regarding climate change and also the anti-Gunns pulp mill campaigns. GetUp quotes that “our campaigns target issues and those with the power to make them happen rather than directly for or against a party”.
In August, 2005, Australian Special Minister of State Eric Abetz
called for two Australian regulatory bodies — the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
(ACCC) and the Australian Electoral Commission
(AEC) — to investigate GetUp's corporate structure, donations, and affiliation with political parties. The AEC rejected the call for an investigation concluding that there were "insufficient grounds on which to undertake a formal investigation."
Since the change of Government in 2007, GetUp has criticised Labor Party policies such as FuelWatch.
In 2010 it became public that GetUp received more than $1m in donations from six unions in the course of three weeks during that year's federal election campaign, equal to about two thirds of its advertising campaign expenditure and over half of their total donations. GetUp director, Simon Sheikh, said; "we don't exactly know why they are chipping in, but we are happy that they have."
In 2011 following the Australian Labor party's decision to seek a swap arrangement with Malaysia over humanitarian asylum seekers arriving by boat GetUp were critisized for their lack of condemnation of this policy turnaround. GetUp director Simon Sheikh stated that "The government would love to see groups like us marching against this plan because that's their strategy". He further explained that the Labor party were attempting to shore themselves up as a conservative force. The refusal to take a vocal stance critical of the new policy came in the face of past criticism of mandatory detention policies (above). Human rights groups have been critical of the Malaysian swap deal noting that asylum seekers in Malaysia live under the threat of human rights abuses including punishment by caning.
, "It quickly becomes clear, however, that much of the support GetUp claims to have is exaggerated".
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
took control of the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
.
GetUp campaigns are community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
based, and are primarily coordinated through the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. They involve email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, its website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, and traditional media
Old media
The Old Media or Legacy Media are traditional means of communication and expression that have existed since before the advent of the new medium of the Internet...
. GetUp is a non-profit organisation, and states that it relies on donations from individuals, organisations, unions and community groups for funding.
GetUp describes itself as "a new independent political movement to build a progressive Australia". They identify campaigns based on the interests of its members, which are usually issues such as "social justice, economic fairness and environmental sustainability".
History
Founded by Jeremy Heimans and David MaddenDavid Madden (Australia)
David Madden is an Australian entrepreneur associated with progressive causes. He is a co-founder of GetUp! a web-based political movement, and Avaaz.org, a global advocacy movement....
, the GetUp.org.au website was launched on 1 August 2005 along with a television advertising campaign. Inspired by the American website MoveOn
MoveOn
MoveOn is an American non-profit, progressive or liberal public policy advocacy group and political action committee, which has raised millions of dollars for candidates it identifies as "moderates" or "progressives" in the United States. It was formed in 1998 in response to the impeachment of...
.org, GetUp's initial campaign aimed to help voters to "keep the Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
accountable" after it won a majority of seats in the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
on 9 August 2005, following the Australian federal election, 2004. Although both Liberal-National Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
parties permit their members to cross the floor to vote against party policy, this was nevertheless the first time an Australian government had been elected to hold a majority of seats in both Houses of Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
since 1981.
GetUp! encouraged visitors to send an email to Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
senators that read "I’m sending you this message because I want you to know that I’m watching. Now that you have absolute power in the Senate, it is only people like me who can hold you accountable. And we will."
GetUp! has campaigned vocally over issues such as pressuring the Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
to lobby for the release of David Hicks
David Hicks
David Matthew Hicks is an Australian who was convicted by the United States of America Guantanamo Military Commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, on charges of providing material support for terrorism...
into the Australian community (Hicks had been in detention at Guantanamo Bay for undertaking combat training in al Qaeda-linked camps and serving with the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2001); and opposing efforts by the Rudd Government
Rudd Government
The Rudd Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia of the Australian Labor Party from 2007 to 2010, led by Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister. The Rudd Government commenced on 3 December 2007, when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry...
to examine ways to implement an internet filter (Internet censorship in Australia
Internet censorship in Australia
Internet censorship in Australia currently consists of a regulatory regime under which the Australian Communications and Media Authority has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a "black-list" of overseas websites which is then...
); and has promoted voter enrollment.
In March 2011, Getup! endorsed the controversial decision of the Gillard Labor Government
Gillard Government
The Gillard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia, which is led by the Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard. Julia Gillard became Prime Minister on the 24th of June 2010 after challenging her predecessor, Kevin Rudd for the position of leader of the parliamentary...
to reverse its 2010 Election promise not to introduce a carbon tax
Carbon tax
A carbon tax is an environmental tax levied on the carbon content of fuels. It is a form of carbon pricing. Carbon is present in every hydrocarbon fuel and is released as carbon dioxide when they are burnt. In contrast, non-combustion energy sources—wind, sunlight, hydropower, and nuclear—do not...
as a means of addressing Australia's contribution to carbon emissions.
Campaigns
While GetUp’s primary methodology to date has been to encourage its membership to email or call their elected representatives, the organisation has also employed a range of campaigning techniques, such as taking out advertisements in major daily newspapers, holding local events, running television commercials, and hiring a skywriter to write “Vote No” above Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra. Several GetUp-initiated petitions have been presented in the Australian Senate by representatives of different political parties.Past and current campaigns include:
- 2005: Campaigned against changes to anti-terrorism legislation, against WorkChoicesWorkChoicesThe Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
and against racism in response to the 2005 Cronulla riots2005 Cronulla riotsThe 2005 Cronulla riots were a series of sectarian clashes and mob violence originating in Cronulla, New South Wales and spreading, over the next few nights, to additional Sydney suburbs....
. - 2006: Campaigned against proposed changes to migration laws and against Australian involvement in the Iraq War. Campaigned in support of David HicksDavid HicksDavid Matthew Hicks is an Australian who was convicted by the United States of America Guantanamo Military Commission under the Military Commissions Act of 2006, on charges of providing material support for terrorism...
, expanding terms of reference for the Cole Inquiry into the Australian Wheat Board and in favour of certain actions in relation to global warming. - 2007: Campaigned against the Northern Territory National Emergency ResponseNorthern Territory National Emergency ResponseThe Northern Territory National Emergency Response was a package of changes to welfare provision, law enforcement, land tenure and other measures, introduced by the Australian federal government under John Howard in 2007 to address claims of rampant child sexual abuse and neglect in Northern...
. Campaigned for the repeal of laws that close the electoral rolls the day the elections are officially called, to achieve health equality for Indigenous Australians and for same sex marriage. - 2008: Campaigned against a proposed mandatory internet filter. Campaigned to raise awareness on pay disparity for female workers, urged Kevin RuddKevin RuddKevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
to take action and stand against China’s crackdown in Tibet and to save the Murray RiverMurray RiverThe Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
. - 2009: Campaigned against mandatory detentionMandatory detention in AustraliaMandatory detention in Australia concerns the Australian federal government's policy and system of mandatory immigration detention active from 1992 to date, pursuant to which all persons entering the country without a valid visa are compulsorily detained and sometimes subject to deportation.In the...
. Campaigned for same-sex equality, renewable energy and paid parental leave. - 2010: Placed full page ads in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and The Washington TimesThe Washington TimesThe Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...
in support of WikiLeaksWikileaksWikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
founder Julian AssangeJulian AssangeJulian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
and condemning calls for violence against him. - 2011: Campaigned against mining coal seam gasCoalbed methaneCoalbed methane or Coal Bed Methane, coalbed gas or coal mine methane is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, and other countries...
. Campaigned to create a permanent Climate Natural Disaster Fund funded by reduction of fossil fuel subsidies. Released a video supporting same-sex marriage starring Julian ShawJulian ShawJulian Shaw is an author, filmmaker and actor, best known for directing the 2007 film Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, a British Film Institute award-winning documentary about the life of South African political satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys...
that was described by The AdvocateThe AdvocateThe Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
as "possibly the most beautiful ad for marriage equality we've seen."
Structure
GetUp is a non-profit organisation, registered as GetUp Ltd. In the vein of Moveon.org, much of the organisation’s funding comes in the form of small contributions made through its website. Under Australia’s taxation regime, donations to GetUp are not considered tax-deductible as the organisation advocates for changes to government policy. GetUp has a small team of staff and volunteers based in Sydney, including National Director Simon SheikhSimon Sheikh
Simon Sheikh is the national director of the Australian political organisation GetUp!. The son of Michael Sheikh, an Indian-born industrial chemist and inventor, he attended Camdenville Public School, which was officially branded 'underprivileged', and later gained late entry to Fort Street High...
.
GetUp's board members are:
- David MaddenDavid Madden (Australia)David Madden is an Australian entrepreneur associated with progressive causes. He is a co-founder of GetUp! a web-based political movement, and Avaaz.org, a global advocacy movement....
, a co-founder - Jeremy Heimans, a co-founder
- Amanda Tattersall, a union researcher
- Anne Coombs, a historian and online opinion author
- Brett Solomon, former Campaigns Director of AVAAZ and former Executive DirectorExecutive directorExecutive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
of GetUp
Madden and Heimans ran campaigns in the United States against President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
. Tattersall serves as Director of the Sydney Alliance. Former board members have included Evan Thornley
Evan Thornley
Evan William Thornley , former Australian politician and entrepreneur, was a Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council for the Southern Metropolitan Region...
and Bill Shorten
Bill Shorten
William Richard "Bill" Shorten is an Australian politician, the Member for Maribyrnong in the Australian Parliament, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Superannuation and Financial Services. He was the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Children's Services in the Rudd/Gillard Government...
who left the board to pursue political party positions, and former Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
leader John Hewson
John Hewson
John Robert Hewson AM is an Australian economist, company director and a former politician. He was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 1990 to 1994 and led the party to defeat at the 1993 federal election.-Early life:...
.
Spam claims
The GetUp! website allows visitors to send pro forma protest emails to Coalition parliamentarians, leading to charges that GetUp! generates spamE-mail spam
Email spam, also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email , is a subset of spam that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. Definitions of spam usually include the aspects that email is unsolicited and sent in bulk. One subset of UBE is UCE...
. Shortly after the first GetUp! emails began to arrive, member for Wentworth
Division of Wentworth
The Division of Wentworth is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. The Division is named after William Charles Wentworth , a noted Australian explorer and statesman...
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2004, and was Leader of the Opposition and parliamentary leader of the Liberal Party from 16 September 2008 to 1 December 2009.Turnbull has represented the Division...
said that "When you get 1,000 emails, all in exactly the same form, it's not exactly as persuasive as a bunch of emails people have written to independently express themselves." GetUp dismisses this criticism arguing that it rarely allows for form letters or emails, rather it encourages its members to write individual and handcrafted emails. This position is reflected in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which acknowledges the role of GetUp in "an age in which people were interested in political issues but no longer had the time to write letters."
Labor Party 'Front' claims
GetUp has been criticised for being a partisan site because of its consistent opposition to key Liberal Party policies. On 4 August 2005, Liberal Party politician Andrew RobbAndrew Robb
Andrew John Robb AO , Australian politician and former federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia, was elected to the House of Representatives as member for the Division of Goldstein, Victoria for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election.Robb, one of nine children, was...
said on the ABC's The 7.30 Report
The 7.30 Report
The 7.30 Report is an Australian nightly television current affairs program, that was shown on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at , Mondays–Thursdays...
that GetUp is "a front for the Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, it's a political front. They're quite entitled to do it, it's a free country, but it's a political front. That's what it is."
GetUp has repeatedly rejected this claim, reiterating that they are strictly independent and don’t have any affiliation with any political party. GetUp cites a number of campaigns which critique the Labor party, including “Your message to Labor” regarding climate change and also the anti-Gunns pulp mill campaigns. GetUp quotes that “our campaigns target issues and those with the power to make them happen rather than directly for or against a party”.
In August, 2005, Australian Special Minister of State Eric Abetz
Eric Abetz
Eric Abetz , has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate since February 1994, representing the state of Tasmania. He is currently Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. He was educated at the University of Tasmania and was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics...
called for two Australian regulatory bodies — the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is an independent authority of the Australia government. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority to administer the Trade Practices Act 1974...
(ACCC) and the Australian Electoral Commission
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.The Australian Electoral Commission...
(AEC) — to investigate GetUp's corporate structure, donations, and affiliation with political parties. The AEC rejected the call for an investigation concluding that there were "insufficient grounds on which to undertake a formal investigation."
Since the change of Government in 2007, GetUp has criticised Labor Party policies such as FuelWatch.
In 2010 it became public that GetUp received more than $1m in donations from six unions in the course of three weeks during that year's federal election campaign, equal to about two thirds of its advertising campaign expenditure and over half of their total donations. GetUp director, Simon Sheikh, said; "we don't exactly know why they are chipping in, but we are happy that they have."
In 2011 following the Australian Labor party's decision to seek a swap arrangement with Malaysia over humanitarian asylum seekers arriving by boat GetUp were critisized for their lack of condemnation of this policy turnaround. GetUp director Simon Sheikh stated that "The government would love to see groups like us marching against this plan because that's their strategy". He further explained that the Labor party were attempting to shore themselves up as a conservative force. The refusal to take a vocal stance critical of the new policy came in the face of past criticism of mandatory detention policies (above). Human rights groups have been critical of the Malaysian swap deal noting that asylum seekers in Malaysia live under the threat of human rights abuses including punishment by caning.
Dubious membership claims
GetUp!’s homepage states "Join the movement of 585,581 Australians". This figure however is debated, as anyone who signs a GetUp! petition is automatically listed as a member. In its most recently published annual report for 2008-09, the total number of individual donors was 17,295. According to Quadrant magazineQuadrant (magazine)
Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
, "It quickly becomes clear, however, that much of the support GetUp claims to have is exaggerated".