“…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
Good work on ‘fix the treaty’ issues. Your organisation is notoriously difficult to contact. How do I get involved?
Hi Bob. I’ll email you.
Bob, thanks for the feedback re that we are “notoriously difficult to contact.” That certainly is not our intent! We would be happy to take advice on how to make contact with us easier. Right now, we have a contact form on the fixthetaxtreaty.org/about area and people can also contact us on the FB group through open posts or PMs. Would it be easier if we added a Contact area to the main website?