OCS Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, Gareth Marriott, has continued to work as a modern slavery ambassador. He attended the eighth Bali Process Government and Business Forum in Adelaide as a member of the Aotearoa New Zealand delegation in February and then as Aotearoa New Zealand’s representative (on behalf of the business community and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment) to Bali in August at the Bali Process Government and Business Forum, Tech Forum.
The Bali Process is a forum for countries across the Indo-Pacific region to work together to tackle the issues of people smuggling and human trafficking. Established in 2002, it brings together government officials, international organisations, and civil society to share information, find solutions, and protect the rights of victims. It focuses on cooperation, sharing responsibility, and taking a comprehensive approach to address all aspects of the problem.
Both Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia play pivotal roles within the Bali Process (with Australia serving as co-chair); the New Zealand government sees it as a valuable platform to tackle issues of people smuggling and human trafficking in the Indo-Pacific region.
The delegations are another way in which Aotearoa New Zealand can promote international cooperation in the global flight against people smuggling and trafficking.
“From an OCS perspective, as a medium-sized employer across the Australia/New Zealand region, we take our responsibility as ethical employers very seriously – it’s about freedom, fairness and human dignity. As consumers and businesspeople, we need to be confident that the products we consume and the businesses we work with also have supply chains that can be relied upon to support the same values,” said Gareth.
Gareth’s passion for his involvement continues to be the plight of the more than 50 million people worldwide impacted by modern slavery and the estimated 8,000 individuals in Aotearoa New Zealand and 41,000 in Australia.
