As an organisation, Pure Finance is committed to putting 5% of revenue to work for good via our impact giving model: Pure Community. This 5% is split between three distinct impact areas:
- 1% to Pay the Rent - Supporting the self-determination and re-empowerment of First Nations people and communities
- 1% For the Earth - Supporting environmental protection, resilience and climate activism
- 3% for our NFP, YOURS - providing access to no cost, no interest loans, enabling participants to meet their economic needs with dignity and autonomy.
Let's take a look at where the community sent its support using funds from the final quarter of 2023.
1% Pay the Rent / Uprising of the People
Based on Kulumbirigin Country in Gulumoerrgin/Darwin, Uprising of the People (UP) is a Danggalaba Kulumbirigin-owned, grassroots organisation that aims to nurture and rebuild relationships between Elders, Country and Young People in the community.
Led by CEO Mililma May, a Danggalaba Kulumbirigin Tiwi woman, activist, artist and writer, UP facilitates a wide and impressive range of community-focused programs and campaigns, as well as running the Billawook Gurinyi Community Centre, the first and only youth/family centre in Darwin’s Northern suburbs. The centre provides a safe place for community to drop in, attend cultural and employment workshops and make music or record stories.
Some of UP’s programs* include their ‘Elders in Residence’ program, designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families via knowledge sharing, mentoring and support, as well as their ‘Walk With Us’ Cultural Tours, which provide participants with an opportunity to learn more about Kulumbirigin Country and culture. Mililma was also a powerful voice in the national conversation surrounding the 2023 Voice to Parliament Referendum.
Additionally, UP also plays a significant advocacy and activist role in the fight to protect Country in the NT. Most recently, UP has been integral in the ongoing fight to protect sacred Larrakia Country at Binybara/Lee Point, as the area faces the threat of environmental destruction and significant biodiversity loss due to a proposed DHA housing development.
We Paid the Rent with $3,223 to UP, with the aim of supporting the vast amount of important work and advocacy they do for community and Country in Gulumoerrgin/Darwin.
*We’ve only listed a few of UP’s many programs and campaigns here and, considering the size of the organisation, they are doing an incredible amount of work in the community. We encourage you to visit the UP website, read their latest progress report and follow them on Instagram for updates and to learn more.
LEND YOUR SUPPORT
Donate to Uprising of the People
LEARN MORE
Uprising of the People - Website
Open Letter to Minister Plibersek from Mililma May
FOLLOW
Instagram - @uprisingofthepeopletld
1% For the Earth / Australian Climate Case
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul are Guda Maluyligal Traditional Owners from Boigu and Saibai Islands in Zenadth Kes (the Torres Strait). With the Uncles and their communities faced with rising sea levels, tides flooding their homes, sacred land eroding into the sea and soil becoming too salty to grow food, they took the Australian Government to court in 2021 for failing to act on, and prevent, climate change. They’re arguing that, due to this failure, the Federal Government negligently and unlawfully breached their duty of care to the Torres Strait community.
Australia’s response to climate change is one of the weakest in the world and if the Federal Government doesn’t change course – and fast – then islands in the Torres Strait could become uninhabitable. This would force Torres Strait Islander communities to leave their homes, severing thousands of years of connection to the land, while also making them Australia’s first climate change refugees.
The good news? The Australian Climate Case has been modelled off another groundbreaking case that ran successfully in the Netherlands in 2015, which means: it’s definitely winnable. It’s also the first time that anyone in the country has argued that the whole of the Federal Government – not just one Minister or agency – has a duty to protect people from climate harm. So, if it’s successful, everyone in Australia (and the world) will reap the benefits.
As our Q4 For the Earth commitment, we supported the case with $3,223 which, via Grata Fund (a NFP that help grassroots community movements, civil society organisations and individuals challenge the legal system) will go towards campaigning costs, mobilising communities, travel costs for the plaintiffs and their legal team and funding for expert witness testimonies to show the court just how rapidly Australia’s window for taking meaningful climate action is closing.
Closing arguments for the case will take place in Gimuy/Cairns from 29 April - 3 May and will be the final stage of hearings before a decision is handed down. A decision date is not yet set, but can typically take 4-6 months after hearings finish.
In what is set to be a crucial moment for First Nations-led climate justice in this country, the Uncles are courageously putting themselves forward and are fighting for a safe and sustainable future for us all. Let’s show them that they do not stand alone.
LEND YOUR SUPPORT
Donate to the Australian Climate Case
Sign the #MuraKalmelSipa Pledge
LEARN MORE
Australian Climate Case - Website
FOLLOW
Instagram - @australianclimatecase
3% to YOURS
There was also an additional $9,669 added to the YOURS lending pool this quarter.
On behalf of all of us at Pure Finance, we want to thank all the people, communities and organisations that are working hard to make our world a more just and equitable one. It is an honour to be able to support your work.
If you want to learn more about Pure Community, you can visit: www.purecommunity.co and if you have any questions, you can get in touch with us here.
*Pure Community and Pure Finance have no direct affiliation with the organisations and initiatives listed above. We simply appreciate the work that they do, and choose to show our appreciation by lending our support.