The former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard are among six Australians who have joined a global group fronted by Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson and backed by a pro-Brexit hedge fund billionaire and a Dubai-based investment group.
The group – The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) – has been gathering high-profile figures from politics, industry, academia and thinktanks for an inaugural three-day conference in London in late October.
Peterson has said the conference would look at “issues metaphysical, cultural and practical” and “issues pertaining to the meaning of life” but also to “become practical with regard to the realisation of policy”.
The Danish political scientist Bjørn Lomborg and the American commentator Michael Shellenberger, who have both questioned the urgency of the climate crisis compared with other global problems, are on the group’s advisory committee.
Also on the committee are Australia’s shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, and a former deputy prime minister, John Anderson.
Company records in the UK show Arc has two shareholders – the Dubai-based investment management group Legatum Ventures and the British investor and Brexiter Sir Paul Marshall.
According to The Times Rich List, in 2020 Marshall was worth about $1.1bn and is co-founder of Marshall Wace, reported to be one of the world’s biggest hedge funds.
"Our civilisation has forgotten the foundations upon which it was built."@prcmarshall is co-founder and chairman of Marshall Wace LLP, founder of @unherd, and member of ARC's Organising Committee 👇 pic.twitter.com/q4QC3Eyjt6
— The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (@arc_forum) April 5, 2023
Legatum and Marshall are major investors in GB News, the rightwing and partisan alternative news outlet launched in 2021.
One of Legatum’s four founders, the billionaire Christopher Chandler, told the Guardian in 2018 he made “hundreds of millions” from investments in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and at one point owned 4% of the gas giant Gazprom with his brother Richard Chandler. The businessman was already rich when he invested in Russia soon after the end of the USSR.
A “statement of vision and interpretation” for Arc includes six “fundamental questions” around energy, environmental stewardship, families and societies.
Discussing the questions, Peterson has said there are “no excuses for putting forward energy policies that punish those who are absolutely poor”.
“We have no right to deny the developing world the opportunity to pursue the opportunities that we have been blessed to pursue.”
ARC asks 6 fundamental questions. Watch ARC co-founder @jordanbpeterson elaborate on questions 5 and 6👇
— The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (@arc_forum) June 1, 2023
5. Energy and Resources: "How do we provide the energy and other resources upon which all economies depend in a manner that is inexpensive, reliable, safe and efficient,… pic.twitter.com/au2cuDSVir
The vision document says: “We at ARC do not believe that humanity is necessarily and inevitably teetering on the brink of apocalyptic disaster.
“We posit, instead, that men and women of faith and decisiveness, made in the image of God, can arrange their affairs with care and attention so that abundance and opportunity could be available for all.”
The document asks how it might “effectively conceptualise, value and reward the sacrificial, long-term, peaceful, child-centred intimate relationships upon which psychological integrity and social stability most fundamentally depend.”
Peterson has said a model for this was “something approximating the nuclear family” with “long-term, committed, stable heterosexual marriages sanctified by the community”.
A spokesperson for Hastie said the MP was “honoured” to be part of the Arc advisory board.
“He is standing alongside a diverse, global group of eminent leaders from across all areas of human endeavour and public policy.
“Mr Hastie is looking forward to building a new narrative for politics that goes beyond the soulless, values-free, consumer-focused politics of corporatist progressivism.
“Mr Hastie is looking forward to policy discussions on increasing home ownership, affordable zero-emissions energy, education and national security.”
Anderson told Guardian Australia he joined the group at the urging of the UK House of Lords member Lady Philippa Stroud.
Anderson said Arc would investigate a “range of topics” including: family formation, describing depopulation as “a huge challenge in coming decades”; building prosperity and overcoming young people’s cynicism about capitalism; “the west’s confidence in its own core values and its willingness to defend them”; and rising energy and fertiliser prices.
Anderson said Arc did not oppose decarbonisation but would call for “transparency and honesty … about the sacrifices that will be needed, and the need to do it in a way that shares the burden fairly”.
Anderson said Lomborg “doesn’t deny the importance of solving climate change” but rather “if you set back alleviation of hunger and poverty you’ll end up with a whole chunk of people who don’t care about climate and the environment”.
Anderson said others involved in Arc were “very honourable people”, defending Chandler’s involvement with Gazprom. “Lots of Australians have been on Chinese business boards and might have a different view now.”
Howard told Guardian Australia he was invited by the group’s founders and would take part in the conference because he “broadly” shared Arc’s objectives.
“On climate change, I have said on numerous occasions that I am an agnostic. I have always supported Britain leaving the European Union and was very happy when the British public voted in favour of that occurring.”
Other Australians on the group are the former LNP senator Amanda Stoker and the Howard-era chief scientist Prof Robin Batterham.
The South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic has declared on the register of interests that Arc is paying for a return air fare to London, three nights accommodation “and incidental hospitality” to attend the conference.
