Oxfam challenges Big Four over land grab funding deals
The Australian arm of world-wide development organisation Oxfam has followed up an earlier report on the role of Australia's Big Four in funding some very doubtful enterprises in Asia, and the news is not good. Oxfam Australia first raised the subject in 2014, in its report "Banking on Shaky Ground - Australia's big four banks and land grabs", and now asserts that all four banks have failed to ensure the affected communities' rights to food, shelter and a sustainable livelihood were restored. Helen Szoke, Oxfam Australia's chief executive, said the new 70-page report, "Still Banking on Land Grabs", provided new evidence that the ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac were connected to companies in Cambodia, Brazil and Indonesia that had been involved in illegal logging, forced evictions, inadequate compensation, food shortages and child labour. "What is clear from our investigations is that, despite the Big Four banks claiming they've addressed the issue, no bank has done enough - the land grabs that we exposed two years ago continue to have devastating impacts on the lives of vulnerable people," Szoke said. "Our research shows Australians care about how their money is invested. If most people knew that their money could be used to back companies that take land and homes away from people in some of the world's poorest countries, they'd be shocked." "Since Oxfam's first report in 2014, more than 18,000 people have written to their bank and 20,000 have signed the petition to call for a Zero Tolerance for Land Grabs approach," Dr Szoke said. For their part, the Big Four banks have claimed progress towards respecting land rights in their operations. Oxfam acknowledged that NAB and Westpac appeared to be taking their exposure to land grabbing as a serious risk to their businesses, with each developing new policies on land-related issues, but said CBA and ANZ had done little. Banking Day approached each of the Big Four for comment late in the day of the report's publication. An ANZ spokesman said the bank did not comment on the specifics of any customer relationship, "however our lending policies and standards incorporate robust assessments of social and environmental issues." "In relation to the Oxfam report, many of the claims are historical and have been previously publicly examined and resolved by our customers. Where there are new allegations, we have discussed these with our customers and are satisfied with their responses." A Commonwealth Bank spokesperson made equally non-controversial opening comments, before adding: "We have had an active and constructive dialogue with Oxfam for some time, relating to the release of their Banking on Shaky Ground reports, the No Excuses briefing paper and during the development of our new Human Rights Position Statement. "We have reviewed and engaged with all of the companies identified by Oxfam in the latest report and have confidence that the issues are being addressed. "We continue to welcome efforts from Oxfam and other NGOs in bringing environmental and social issues to our attention as they help inform our decisions." Westpac had not replied by our