Oxfam has condemned Australia’s four biggest banks for supporting companies that are accused of illegally forcing indigenous peoples from their land.
An Oxfam report said ANZ, Westpac, National Australia Bank and the Commonwealth Bank have backed companies that have contributed to illegal logging, forced evictions, inadequate compensation, food shortages and child labour.
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Oxfam Australia’s CEO Helen Szoke said: "From Papua New Guinea and Cambodia to Indonesia and Brazil, our banks have backed companies accused of forcing people from their land.
"This involvement has also resulted in billions of dollars of exposure for everyday Australians who have their money in accounts with these banks, or who own bank shares directly or through their superannuation funds."
Szoke said the banks were investing in companies in the Asia-Pacific region without properly taking into account the risks of doing business there.
Oxfam has accused Westpac of investing in a company that is involved in illegal logging in Papua New Guinea and ANZ of financing a sugar plantation using child labour and involved in military backed land grabs, forced evictions and food shortages.
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By GlobalDataThe charity also accused Commonwealth Bank of investing in a Brazilian sugar mill sourcing sugar from suppliers who illegally evicted indigenous people from their land to build a sugar plantation and NAB of funding Wilmar, a palm oil giant linked to land grab allegations.
Commonwealth Bank said it would "engage with relevant parties on the issues raised in accordance with our investment policies on responsible investment and stewardship".
An ANZ spokesman said the bank had "exited customer relationships in the past in circumstances where the customer is unwilling to work collaboratively with ANZ towards meeting our standards".
NAB declined to comment on its relationship with Wilmar "due to legal and confidentiality reasons" but stressed the bank "supports actions that promote better environmental and social outcomes for businesses and the communities in which they operate".
Westpac said it "welcomed" Oxfam’s investigation and said it exposed "useful information in drawing further attention to the some of the complex issues the banking sector has long been managing as part of responsibly supporting the soft commodities sector".
"In the past, Westpac has been prepared to exit customer relationships if we … have concerns around their environmental, social and governance activities. This includes ‘land grabbing’."
Szoke said: "Investment in agriculture is vital to reduce global hunger, but it has to be done responsibly.
"The banks need to say which companies they’re investing in, and where those companies have pushed people off the land, to work with those companies to change their practices and provide compensation to communities."
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