Australia’s biggest banks pocket $1b in taxpayer money to fund green energy schemes
BIG banks accused in the financial services royal commission of ripping off customers have raked in more than $1 billion in taxpayer money to fund green energy schemes, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
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BIG banks accused in the financial services royal commission of ripping off customers have raked in more than $1 billion in taxpayer money to fund green energy schemes, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
The companies have been handed millions for everything from electric cars to switching to energy efficient lighting and installing more stairs in their own buildings by the Turnbull Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
The big four banks — CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac, and finance company AMP, have been beneficiaries of the green funding, delivered either as equity investments or as corporate loans.
The revelations come as the royal commission exposes how the banks and big finance companies have ripped off customers for years through shoddy lending practices and financial advice, and lied about it to the corporate regulator.
Just last month, the CEFC gave $100 million to AMP Capital to reduce building emissions. Their goal is to have a property portfolio with net zero carbon emissions buildings by 2030. The subsidiary of AMP Limited said it would use the money to redevelop its Sydney office tower to make it sustainable through mechanisms such as LED lighting, occupant-sensing lighting controls and internal staircases to reduce elevator use.
Macquarie Leasing was given $100 million last September to “accelerate the use of electric vehicles in Australia”.
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It will do this by offering a 0.5 to 0.7 per cent discount on loans for electric cars, plug-in hybrid vehicles and other renewable energy equipment.
NAB received $300 million — $180 million last June and $120 million in 2015 — to give customers a discount of 0.7 per cent on loans for eligible clean energy investments.
CBA was given $100 million in October 2016 to offer a 0.7 per cent discount on loans between $10,000 and $5 million for businesses investing in fuel efficient vehicles, energy efficient lighting, farm machinery and rooftop solar panels.
Westpac was given $200 million in May 2016 for a similar program and ANZ was given $150 million for a similar program in December.
Ahead of the 2013 election, Tony Abbott campaigned on scrapping the fund Julia Gillard set up, but the Senate blocked his two legislative attempts to abolish it.
Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg defended the program, which he has changed to support carbon capture and storage projects and helps sustainability of the Great Barrier Reef.
“Since its establishment the CEFC has partnered with financial institutions to provide concessional finance which aims to deliver a more affordable and reliable energy system,” he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has backed the corporation — dubbed “Bob Brown’s bank” when it was set up by the Gillard Labor government — after dumping his predecessor Tony Abbott’s promise to abolish it in March 2016.
The $1 billion fund Mr Turnbull created provides loans to businesses, instead of grants, which nets government coffers $104 for every $100 lent.