Two ACT Greens politicians who called on the ACT government to divest from companies linked to Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, owned such shares themselves.
Greens minister Emma Davidson and backbencher Jo Clay both supported a Legislative Assembly motion this month calling on the ACT government to divest from companies linked to Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.
The Canberra Times raised details of the members' shareholdings with them, and asked if they were aware of some companies' links.
Ms Davidson held shares in the iShares Core S&P 500, an exchange-traded fund that held shares in Airbnb, Expedia, Booking Holdings Inc and Motorola Solutions.
The companies were among those the Greens called on the ACT government to drop because the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had listed them as being complicit in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
Ms Clay, the Greens' member for Ginninderra, had disclosed holdings in Stratasys, a company incorporated in Israel which develops military-grade 3D printing technology.
The company has sold its equipment to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc, which produces unmanned military drones including the MQ-9.
The United States began flying those drones, which are capable of carrying missiles, over the Gaza Strip after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
The drones have been used to help find hostages taken by Hamas, the Reuters news agency has reported, citing United States military sources.
Stratasys boasts of General Atomics' success with AM, or "additive manufacturing" - a technical term for 3D printing - in a published case study.
"In just over a decade, GA-ASI's adoption of AM has advanced from a few desktop printers to a fully evolved ecosystem of AM technologies and applications, resulting in thousands of parts flying on multiple GA-ASI unmanned aircraft platforms today," a Stratasys brochure says.
Stratasys says one of its marquee customers is Lockheed Martin, the US defence and aerospace manufacturing company and one of the largest defence contractors globally.
Ms Clay said in response to questions from The Canberra Times she would divest immediately from the company.
"I am proud to stand with the Greens and other activists in calling for a permanent ceasefire and lasting peace in Palestine-Israel, involving the end of the occupation and apartheid system discriminating against Palestinians. We must all do everything we can to support a pathway to peace, including boycotting and divesting from corporations complicit in human rights violations of Palestinians," Ms Clay said.
Ms Clay said she took ethical investment seriously, appreciated being told about her investments, and said she would take more care in the future.
"I check potential investments against ethical sources of information, such as Australian Ethical, before choosing to invest. That would have been my process on this purchase before I made it. I update my shareholdings when information changes, and I'm really sorry that I did not notice this company's dealing status," she said.
Ms Davidson said: "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I can confirm I have now divested. The federal Labor government must back the Greens calls to withdraw all support from the state of Israel and join our call for a just and lasting ceasefire."
Ms Clay's declaration of interests was lodged on September 4, 2023, listing shareholdings in seven companies, including Stratasys Ltd. Ms Davidson disclosed her shares in the iShares fund on September 10, 2023.
Labor and the Greens came to a compromise on the divestment motion which was moved by the Greens' Andrew Braddock earlier this month.
Mr Braddock had wanted the government to commit to divesting from companies linked by the United Nations to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Instead, Labor and the Greens agreed the government would review its shareholdings in line with the environmental, social and corporate governance performance standards - known as ESG - in its shareholding policy.
"The controversy assessment identifies and excludes investment where a company is assessed as having a very severe ESG controversy related to their operations, governance practices, and/or products and services that allegedly violates national or international laws, regulations and/or commonly accepted global norms," the policy says.
"Companies identified to be involved in very severe ESG controversies are excluded from inclusion in the custom ESG indexes and are not available for investment."
The Greens initial motion called on the government to divest its shares in nine companies, which it said the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had listed as being complicit in the establishment and maintenance of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Greens' motion listed the following companies: Airbnb Inc, Alstom SA, Bank Hapoalim BM, Bank Leumi Le-Israel BM, Booking Holdings Inc, Expedia Group Inc, Israel Discount Bank Ltd, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd and Motorola Solutions Inc.
