Apple to donate to Australian bush fire relief efforts
Apple will donate funds to ongoing relief efforts in Australia, where a dangerous combination of record temperatures, high winds and drought over the past two months set the stage for dozens of devastating bush fires.
Apple CEO Tim Cook in a tweet on Thursday extended sympathy to Australians impacted by the more than 100 fires that pock mark the landscape in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
"Our hearts are with those impacted by the Australian bushfires and with the courageous volunteer force fighting the unprecedented blazes across the country-- please stay safe," Cook said in a tweet. "Apple will be donating to support relief efforts."
Cook did not specify how Apple will contribute, though the company has in the past donated funds to local non-profits and emergency service organizations during similar situations.
Australian firefighting agencies are currently battling a series of blazes across multiple states, a collective conflagration thought to be among the worst on record. The fires, sparked by extreme seasonal weather conditions, have destroyed towns, millions of acres of land and claimed the lives of at least nine people.
Australia's bush fires are taking a toll on local fauna, with recent reports estimating the decimation of some 30% of NSW's koala population.
The country declared a national emergency last week. Federal and state firefighters from the U.S. were sent to Australia to assist in quelling the wild fires this week.
Apple commonly responds to catastrophes and natural disasters with financial aid. In 2018 the company provided $1 million contributions for victims of the Kerala floods in India, relief efforts following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Red Cross activity after the California wild fires and Hurricane Florence. Apple last donated to an emergency relief effort during this year's bout of California wild fires in October.
Apple CEO Tim Cook in a tweet on Thursday extended sympathy to Australians impacted by the more than 100 fires that pock mark the landscape in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.
"Our hearts are with those impacted by the Australian bushfires and with the courageous volunteer force fighting the unprecedented blazes across the country-- please stay safe," Cook said in a tweet. "Apple will be donating to support relief efforts."
Cook did not specify how Apple will contribute, though the company has in the past donated funds to local non-profits and emergency service organizations during similar situations.
Australian firefighting agencies are currently battling a series of blazes across multiple states, a collective conflagration thought to be among the worst on record. The fires, sparked by extreme seasonal weather conditions, have destroyed towns, millions of acres of land and claimed the lives of at least nine people.
Australia's bush fires are taking a toll on local fauna, with recent reports estimating the decimation of some 30% of NSW's koala population.
The country declared a national emergency last week. Federal and state firefighters from the U.S. were sent to Australia to assist in quelling the wild fires this week.
Apple commonly responds to catastrophes and natural disasters with financial aid. In 2018 the company provided $1 million contributions for victims of the Kerala floods in India, relief efforts following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Red Cross activity after the California wild fires and Hurricane Florence. Apple last donated to an emergency relief effort during this year's bout of California wild fires in October.
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or corporations throwing pocket change at problems. They need to honor their social contract of paying its tax obligations.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/apple-s-aussie-profits-grew-but-its-tax-bill-went-down-20190125-p50tnx.html
Honestly, Apple could literally pay $10's of Billions of dollars in taxes in each country every year and people would still bitch about Apple avoids paying taxes. If Apple is avoiding taxes, then maybe the Government (not Apple) fix it! There's obviously loopholes your government can fix to avoid this if it is indeed true.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/01/25/apples-australian-tax-bill-falls-to-164m-despite-rising-profits
There's finally an international effort being made to address tax avoidance strategies undertaken by large multinational companies. Apple Australia for example, just like many other local subsidiaries of global corporations, pays a selling, general and administrative expense (referred to as SG&A) to its parent company which in Apple's case is currently located in the tax haven of Jersey off the French coast. That's one way it reduces its taxable income in the country where the sale occurred, and a really effective strategy employed by other big techs and pharma and not just Apple.
Now back to the topic....
First it was fires in the Amazon, and now in Australia. Not a good year for the the forests and even millions in donation from big tech won't fix it.
biggest reason for the fires is not record temperatures, it is record no fucks given.
Anyway one of our contracts is with Fire/Rescue services in one of the largest counties in our state. Tax receipts make a huge difference in basic equipment replacement cycles, the building of stations in newly populated or expanding areas, replacing and adding ambulances and brush trucks and the like, and training/hiring.
Two years ago brush fires were a major problem in this area, destroying dozens of homes, and causing injury and loss of life. The fires went on for weeks with the fire services relying on decades-old patched up brush trucks to reach remote areas before they spread to populated ones. The county finally approved money in their budget to purchase a handful of new ones this year.
A local city is having to go begging to the state this upcoming year for money to add a second engine so that firemen might have a chance to wash carcinogens off their gear before using it for another fire. Cancer is a major concern for firemen and that city has no tax money available to address it for at least 5 more years.
Too often the first responders seem to get short shrift.