From Little Things, Big Things Grow – Annual Report

“…but this is the story of something much more
How power and privilege can not move a people
Who know where they stand and stand in the law

From little things big things grow
From little things big things grow”

From Little Things, Big Things Grow,  Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, 1991

Let’s Fix the Tax Treaty! seeks to be an open, transparent and effective advocacy group.  As part of this commitment, not only do we, the Steering Committee, believe it is good practice to set annual objectives as part of our action planning, it is also useful to look back and reflect on what was achieved with the resources available to us.

2017 was our first full year of existence and much of the year was spent building the foundations upon which we intend to build activity, momentum and scale over the coming years.   Key milestones along the way included publishing our Strategy Roadmap, creating and implementing a Wiki framework for knowledge capture and ongoing membership development and support.

Many of you will recall that we prepared a 2017 Scorecard which we issued as part of the Strategy Roadmap document.  How did we do?  See the table below this post.  Although not everything was achieved, we believe we made solid steps towards our goals.  Currently, we are finalising our 2018 objectives which will inform our efforts over the coming year.

As always, we value your feedback and comments.  Most of all, we value your involvement.  Are we moving too slow?  Do you want us to go in new or different directions?  Get involved!

Karen, Carl & Caroline

Table 1:  2017 Achievements versus Objectives

	Objective Area	Objectives	2017 Achievements
1	Policy Maker Engagement	• Appropriate policy makers identified and contacted • Position (“White”) Paper developed and sent to policy makers for feedback	• Key policy makers identified • White Paper development in progress - Talking Points summary of Aus / US tax Issues completed • Call to Action! campaign developed and implemented; follow-up ongoing
2	Media Engagement	• Tools developed for effective media engagement • Group awareness and support broadened • Minimum two media campaigns completed	• Media kit - media release template and guidelines document developed • Commenced compiling media contacts database • Call To Action campaign - letter to Prime Minister issued including media release • Twitter account: 173 followers for @fixthetaxtreaty
3	Negotiating Strategy Framework	• Negotiating strategy documented (confidential – will not be widely shared)	• Deferred; conceptual work only in 2017
4	Freedom of Information (FOI) Campaign	• Government documents obtained through FOI process to better understand past framing / decision making for Tax Treaty & IGA	• Five FOI requests to Treasury and ATO; ATO data received and under review; waiting on (late) Treasury response who have indicated materials will be available early Feb. • Phase 2 FOI follow-up requests framed
5	Knowledge base development	• Online Wiki framework developed • Wiki Editors (contributors) recruited	• Wiki framework developed, implemented and initial population completed • Four editors recruited from outside Steering Committee (three from outside of FTT group and only assisting with general media links) • Our Stories area developed to capture the human dimensions to our issue; these stories have become the most visited pages on our website.
6	FTT Community Development	• Improved group engagement (volunteerism as measure) • FB Group Size increased by 50% • Blog site traffic increased 20% • Two new members of Steering Committee added	• Total of 23 blog posts published in 2017 • See website report below for traffic stats info • FB group doubled in size • Additional volunteers (3) identified for Wiki / Media • New member welcome process developed and Implemented • FB and web based member polls trialled • No additional Steering Committee volunteers
7	Alliances	• Australian alliance partners identified, prioritised and engaged	• Volunteer identified and working this topic • Initial identification of potential partners completed. Second pass in progress. Engagement won’t occur until we have more campaigns.
8	Strategy & Organisation	• FTT Advocacy Strategy and Action Plan developed and documented	• FTT Strategy Roadmap developed and published

Table 2:  2017 Website Report

Date	Title	Page Views
12 Jan	Explaining the Saving Clause I	300
14 Jan	Strategy Document Feedback	103
19 Jan	Explaining the Saving Clause II	297
29 Jan	Explaining the Saving Clause III	419
7 Feb	Our Stories – The Human Element	357
24 Feb	FOI Take 2	397
18 Mar	How can they do that?	303
27 Mar	“Just the facts, ma’am” … Introducing the Fix The Tax Treaty Wiki!	235
14 Apr	Australia’s best investment pal?	121
1 May	CRS – Coming soon to a bank near you…	709
19 Jun	How do US Tax Rules Constrain the Investment Choices of US Taxpayers Living in Australia?	651
26 Jun	Investment Constraints 2: Real Property	396
3 Jul	Investment Constraints 3: Equity	399
19 Jul	Citizenship matters…	148
31 Jul	Plan to Succeed (Part II) – Strategy Roadmap & Action Plan	224
15 Aug	Citizenship matters – Take 2	249
19 Aug	Investment Constraints 4: Structures	313
3 Oct	Investment Constraints 5: Final Thoughts	257
24 Oct	Behind the Scenes	190
24 Nov	UN Human Rights Complaint	65
30 Nov	Behind the Curtain – FOI Requests	162
4 Dec	Call to Action!	272
16 Dec	Have you written your MP yet?	41

Pages Published in 2017

Date	Title	Page Views
7 Feb	Our Stories	1824
7 Feb	Susan’s Story	231
13 Feb	Sadly Noton’s Story	367
13 Feb	Don’s Story	239
13 Feb	P’s Story	200
13 Mar	Mary’s Story	347
13 Mar	Shaun’s Story	722
19 Mar	Gramps’ Story	385
29 Nov	Aussie’s Story	183

Page Views, by month