GetUp!

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This article is about an Australian political movement. For the graduate employee union see GET-UP

GetUp!

Formation	2005
Headquarters	Sydney, Australia
Membership	275,000 members
Website	http://www.getup.org.au

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GetUp! is an Australian independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation giving everyday Australians opportunities to get involved and hold politicians accountable on important issues. GetUp was launched in August 2005, the week that the Coalition took control of the Australian Senate.

GetUp campaigns are based largely around email and its website, however the organisation also uses broadcast and print media to get its message across. GetUp is increasingly expanding its grassroots campaigning through membership events such as GetTogethers and community based campaigning.

Whether it is sending an email to a member of parliament, engaging with the media, attending an event or helping to get a television ad on the air, GetUp members take targeted, coordinated and strategic action. GetUp is a not-for-profit and receives no money from any political party or the government relying solely on funds and in-kind donations from the Australian public.

GetUp describes itself as "a new independent political movement to build a progressive Australia. GetUp brings together like-minded people who want to bring participation back into our democracy." GetUp identifies campaigns based on the interests and input of its members, all GetUp campaigns are focused around shared progressive values such as social justice, economic fairness and environmental sustainability. Because there are many important issues facing Australia at any given time, GetUp looks for opportunities to focus national attention and action where its contribution will be most effective.

1 History
2 Campaigns
3 Structure
4 Criticisms
- 4.1 Spam claims
- 4.2 Front claims
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] History

Founded by Jeremy Heimans and David Madden, the GetUp.org.au website was launched on August 1, 2005 along with a television advertising campaign. Inspired by the American website MoveOn.org, GetUp's initial campaign aimed to help voters to keep Australia's Howard government accountable as it took control of the Australian Senate on August 9, 2005 with an absolute majority of seats. This is the first time an Australian government has controlled both Houses of Parliament since the early 1980s.

The site 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."

[edit] 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 [1], running television commercials [2], and hiring a skywriter to write “Vote No” above Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra [3]. Several GetUp-initiated petitions have been presented in the Australian Senate by representatives of different political parties.

As listed on the GetUp! website, past campaigns include:

   * Now you answer to us, August 2005 - launch
   * Sell your lemons, September 2005 - against the sale of the government's remaining stake in Telstra Corporation, a telephone company
   * Stop preventative detention, September 2005 - against changes to anti-terrorism legislation
   * Put communities first, September 2005 - against voluntary student unionism legislation
   * We're counting on you, October 2005 - against the WorkChoices legislation
   * The deal is off, October 2005 - against changes to anti-terrorism legislation
   * November 15 rally, November 2005 - against the WorkChoices legislation
   * Honouring Van's life, November 2005 - in response to the execution of drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van by the Singapore government
   * Stay strong Steve, December 2005 - against voluntary student unionism legislation
   * Something you can do, December 2005 - against racism, in response to the Cronulla riots
   * Stop the endless summer, January 2006 - against the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate
   * Politics out of medicine, January 2006 - in favour of the transfer of the power to approve an abortifacient called Mifepristone from the health minister to the Therapeutic Goods Administration
   * Fund our ABC, 2006 - in favour of increased government funding to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, state-owned broadcaster
   * Stop the land grab, 2006 - against changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act
   * No child in detention, 2006 - against proposed changes to migration laws
   * We're calling Washington, 2006 - in support of convicted terrorist David Hicks
   * No media monopoly, 2006 - against a relaxation in media ownership laws
   * Defend Australian rights, 2006 - in support of convicted terrorist David Hicks
   * Authorised bribes, 2006 - in favour of expanded terms of reference for the Cole Inquiry into the Australian Wheat Board
   * Stop deceiving women, 2006 - in favour of regulation of pregnancy counselling
   * Our own plan for Iraq, 2006 - against Australian involvement in the Iraq War
   * Climate action now, 2006 - in favour of certain actions in relation to global warming
   * Save our heritage, 2006 - in favour of heritage listing for rock art on the Burrup Peninsula in Western Australia
   * Don’t let them stop you from voting, 2007 – calling for the repeal of the antidemocratic laws that close the electoral rolls the day the elections are officially called.
   * Stop the deception, 2007 – stop pregnancy counselling services that don’t disclose their anti-abortion views
   * Close The Gap, 2007 – action to achieve health equality for Indigenous Australians
   * Oz in 30 seconds, 2007 – ad highlighting what it is to be Australian
   * Australia GetsUp 07, 2007 – election campaign
   * Equal before the law, 2007 – equality for same sex marriage 
   * GetTogethers, 2007 – members meeting around the country to discuss ideas
   * Iraq advert, 2007 – bring the troops home
   * We’re afraid not, 2007 – against the anti-terror legislation 
   * No rubber stamp, 2007 – anti-Northern Territory intervention
   * Save our senate, 2007 – fight for a democratic senate
   * No Pulp Mill, 2007 – stop the Gunns paper mill
   * APEC targets, 2007 – demanding binding climate change targets
   * Climate clever, 2007 – advert on climate change
   * Sorry is the first step, 2007 – campaign to urge parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generations
   * Promise Watch, 2007 – monitoring politicians on election promises
   * Third party ad to save our senate, 2007 – the first ever multi-party election ad
   * Know where I stand, 2007 – campaign for Government to abolish WorkChoices
   * How Should I Vote?, 2007 – online survey that help people find their local candidate and awareness of their issues
   * Al Gore and Bali, 2007 – climate change campaign
   * Tell Mr Smith, 2008 – anti-Gunns pulp mill, Tasmania
   * People’s Agenda, 2008 – survey of 32,000 members of top 10 priorities for the new Parliament.
   * A united apology, 2008 – calling for bipartisan apology to the Stolen Generations.
   * Become a ‘mythbuster’, 2008 – dispelling myths around the apology through letters to the editor and calling talk back.
   * Garnaut & Pulp Mill, 2008 – to encourage Garnaut to include emissions from the logging of native forests and the Gunn’s pup mill in his report.
   * Equal Pay for Equal Work, 2008 – raising awareness on pay disparity and under-valued nature of women’s jobs.
   * Close The Gap, 2008 – last push for signatures on campaign to reduce 17 year life expectancy gap.
   * Stand Up for Tibet, 2008 – urging PM Rudd to take action and stand against China’s crackdown in Tibet.

[edit] 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 Executive Director Brett Solomon. [4]

GetUp's board members are:

David Madden, a co-founder
Jeremy Heimans, a co-founder
Amanda Tattersall, a union researcher
Cate Faehrmann, director of the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
Don Mercer, chairman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors

Madden and Heimans ran campaigns in the United States against President George W Bush.Tattersall serves as Research Director at Unions New South Wales. Former board members have included Evan Thornley and Bill Shorten who left the board to pursue party political positions, and former Liberal Party of Australia leader John Hewson who left the organisation soon after its founding.

[edit] Criticisms

[edit] Spam claims

The GetUp! website allows visitors to send pro forma protest emails to Coalition parliamentarians, leading to charges that GetUp! generates spam. 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."^{[citation needed]} 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."^[1]

[edit] Front claims

GetUp has been criticised for being a partisan site because of its consistent opposition to key government policies. On August 4, 2005, Liberal Party politician Andrew Robb 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."^[2]

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 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." ^[3]