Oxfam questions Westpac "sustainable" credentials in PNG

Transcript

Oxfam Australia says Westpac Bank in Papua New Guinea is among Australia's big four banks not living up to their image as leaders in sustainable banking.

Oxfam says its new report entitled 'Banking on Shaky Ground' reveals worrying connections between ANZ, Westpac, the National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and allegations of land grabbing in several countries.

The Chief Executive of Oxfam Australia, Helen Szoke, says in PNG, Westpac has not been transparent in its support of a Malaysian group of companies accused of illegal logging.

HELEN SZOKE: Westpac has had a nineteen year financing relationship with the logging company WTK Group in Papua New Guinea and it's this group that has actually been found by the Papua New Guinea Commission of Inquiry to have had a lease which was invalid. What we know is that the logging activities of this group, they're occurring in pristine rain forests and they're impacting on communitites such as the Turubu community in East Sepik province. What community members have told us is that people have been forced to sign consent forms and of course once the logging started the communities really suffered the consequences which have been food shortages, deforestation, health problems, shocking water pollution and also cultural consequences such as the destruction of sacred sites and it's also led to conflicts within those communities so this is really a very destructive impact on a local community for a logging lease that's been found to be invalid.

SALLY ROUND: So what exactly was the involvement of Westpac?

HS: Westpac invested in the WTK group of companies and it's had a nineteen year financing relationship with that particular logging company. We've tracked it back to being a significant funder of this company. I don't know who the other investment partners are but it's a significant contributor. One of the challenges that Oxfam found in its report was to actually find in a transparent way which banks were investing in what companies and what the extent of that investment has been.

SR: So are you implying there's a certain amount of covering of tracks here?

HS: Well what I'm saying is that all of the big four banks are not transparent about who they're investing in so it means you have to go digging to actually find the information on the finance and share registers to determine which companies they're investing in. Oxfam is calling on the big four banks to say which companies they're investing in so it can lead to a greater accountability and transparency and where companies aren't behaving appropriately that the communities can call them to account and the banks can also call them to account.

SR: So what has Westpac had to say about this?

HS: Westpac has given an encouraging but bland indcation that they appreciate having this information brought to their attention and that they operate in ethical ways. What's key from the Oxfam report is that we want the big four banks, Westpac and ANZ and the Commonwealth and the NAB banks, to actually match the rhetoric of their efforts and their sustainability frameworks to their investment practices on the ground. So we're pleased that Westpac has been encouraging but they have to actually put the pressure on the WTK Group to change the company's practices in terms of the impact that they're having on communities on the ground and where that impact has been bad such as pollutiion, such as pushing people off the land, that those communties are compensated.

Westpac says it welcomes the report and it regards land grabbing as a serious issue which it addresses through responsible lending and banking practices.

But the bank says it can't comment on particular allegations made by Oxfam - including the acknowledgement of specific customer relationships.