Potential link between NSW e-buses and slave labour under investigation
www.abc.net.au
NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne says he is monitoring the risk of slave labour being used in NSW government electric bus supply chains.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19413486

TLDR:

  • The New South Wales (NSW) Anti-Slavery Commissioner is reviewing the state government’s deal to buy 319 electric buses from Australian-Chinese manufacturers.
  • The Chinese company’s CATL batteries used in the government’s zero emission bus fleet are allegedly linked to Uyghur forced labour camps in the Xinjiang region.
  • The Australian Uyghur Tangritagh Women’s Association is calling on the government to rip up the contracts and strengthen procurement mandates.

New South Wales Anti-slavery Commissioner James Cockayne is reviewing the state government’s procurement of hundreds of electric buses amid concerns that parts of the vehicles were manufactured using slave labour.

In December the state government announced that it had ordered 319 electric buses as part of its goal to get 1,700 of the vehicles onto Sydney roads by 2028.

The contracts were awarded to Australian-Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers Foton Mobility Distribution (FMD) and VDI Australia, which distributes Yutong buses.

The vehicles use batteries made by Chinese firm Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Limited (CATL).

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China processes 60 per cent of the world’s lithium needed for EV batteries and the majority of the work is carried out in the Xinjiang region.

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