GetUp!

GetUp!
Formation 2005
Headquarters Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Website

GetUp! is a left-leaning Australian activist group.[1] It was launched in August 2005, the week that the centre-right Coalition, which already controlled the House of Representatives, also took control of the Australian Senate. It relies on donations from individuals, organisations, unions and community groups for funding.[2]

History

Founded by Jeremy Heimans and David Madden,[3] the GetUp.org.au website was launched on 1 August 2005 along with a television advertising campaign. 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.[4] 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."[5]

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.[6]

Simon Sheikh was the National Director of GetUp! from September 2008 (at the age of 22) to July 2012.

Structure

GetUp is a non-profit organisation,[7] registered as GetUp Ltd.[8] 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.[9]

Lobbying

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,[10] running television commercials, and hiring a skywriter to write "Vote No" above Australia's Parliament House in Canberra.[11] According to the Sydney Morning Herald the organisation generates a lot of standardised form letters that may be characterised as spam. GetUp! says it encourages users to write personal, hand-crafted letters.[12]

Campaigns

In 2007 the Australian Electoral Commission warned GetUp! that it felt its how-to-vote website was "misleading and deceptive", because it always recommended against voting for Coalition candidates, since they did not provide information to GetUp for the online tool.[13]

In 2010, GetUp! placed full page ads in The New York Times and The Washington Times in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and condemning calls for violence against him.[14]

In 2011, GetUp! campaigned to create a permanent Climate Natural Disaster Fund funded by reduction of fossil fuel subsidies[15] and released a video supporting same-sex marriage starring Julian Shaw entitled It's Time that was described by The Advocate as "possibly the most beautiful ad for marriage equality we've seen."[16]

In 2012 GetUp! campaigned with Australian Marriage Equality for same-sex marriage by sending 3,000 roses to federal politicians on Valentines Day[17] and by hosting a dinner for three same-sex couples with the Prime Minister.[18] GetUp! also had a Marriage Matters float in the Sydney Mardi Gras.[19] In Queensland, GetUp! commissioned a response to a controversial anti-gay marriage advertisement.[20] In response to Catholic bishops in Victoria asking their parishioners to campaign against same sex marriages, Simon Sheikh of GetUp! said, "every time they act, they only entice our members to do even more".[21] In May 2012, "GetUp slams PM Gillard" for not following the lead of President Obama on marriage equity.[22] In June 2012, at events in Sydney and Melbourne, GetUp! joined with Marie Claire and Sunrise to show support for marriage equality and "everybody's right to say 'I Do'".[23]

During a campaign in 2012 considerable criticism of GetUp! was generated after they claimed the timber used in the furniture sold by Australian retailer, Harvey Norman contributes to the destruction of Australia's native forests. In response, the Furniture Industry Association of Australia said that, "Get Up! are effectively campaigning for rainforest destruction in other countries instead of sustainably harvested Australian timber".[24] David Penberthy writing in The Punch says, "there have been a lot of dumb campaigns launched over the years but this one is hands down the stupidest thing I have ever seen."[25] The Minister for Manufacturing, Kim Carr has said, "the GetUp! 'No Harvey No' campaign runs the risk of deterring people from buying Australian-made furniture and supporting Australian jobs".[24]

Criticism of GetUp!'s campaigns

In an article published in 2012, entitled My GetUp has got up and gone, journalist Ben Birchall postulates as to why GetUp! campaigns have not "resonated" for him and concludes, "GetUp's arrival was a breath of fresh air on the political landscape. It might be our fault, but it seems to have gone stale".[26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Massola, James (3 June 2011). "GetUp! rejects call by Tony Abbott to mount a campaign against the Malaysian solution". The Australian.
  2. ↑ "Who funds GetUp?". Retrieved 26 November 2008.
  3. ↑ Larissa Dubecki: The mouse-click that roared in The Age 24 February 2007. Retrieved 13 July 2010
  4. ↑ "Howard wins control of Senate". The Age (Melbourne). 28 October 2004.
  5. ↑ Andrew Crook: GetUp and its strange but well-heeled bedfellows in Crikey, 4 February 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2010
  6. ↑ Massola, James (8 March 2011). "Climate change campaigners back PM amid Newspoll disaster". The Australian.
  7. ↑ GetUp!: FAQ. Retrieved 13 July 2010
  8. ↑ Australian Government: ABN Lookup. Retrieved 13 July 2010
  9. ↑ BEN PACKHAM (22 October 2012). "Former GetUp director Simon Sheikh tilts at senate seat for Greens". The Australian. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  10. ↑ "Hicks may face two-year delay: Mori". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  11. ↑ Kirk, Alexandra (14 August 2006). "Howard faces defeat on Migration Bill". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Peatling, Stephanie (6 August 2005). "You've seen the future and it (a) works, (b) is just a load of spam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2007.
  13. ↑ Schneiders, Ben (25 February 2011). "GetUp! warned on how-to-vote site". The Age Melbourne.
  14. ↑ "GetUp gets behind Assange". ninemsn.com.au. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  15. ↑ "Safeguard our future". getup.org.au. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  16. ↑ Grinley, Lucas (25 November 2011). "Possibly the Most Beautiful Ad for Marriage Equality We’ve Seen". The Advocate. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "Gays send pollies Valentine's Day roses". Herald Sun. 14 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  18. ↑ Kerr, Christian (22 February 2012). "Same-sex advocates hope dinner date can sway Gillard on marriage". The Australian. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "Every float, every group – Mardi Gras Parade 2012 revealed". Same Same. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "Brother hits back a ‘homophobic’ ad". Star Observer. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  21. ↑ "Gay marriage advocates attack Catholic campaign". ABC - Lateline. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  22. ↑ "Obama 'can't change biological truth'". SBS. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  23. ↑ "Celebrate your right to say 'I do'". 31 May 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Ferguson, John (9 February 2012), Kim Carr hammers GetUp! ad campaign, AAP, retrieved 12 February 2012
  25. ↑ Penberthy, David (12 February 2012), A campaign without a leg to stand on, The Punch, retrieved 12 February 2012
  26. ↑ Ben Birchall (1 March 2012). "My GetUp has got up and gone". ABC, The Drum. Retrieved 1 March 2012.

External links