Big banks sacked staff while funnelling millions into failed Voice
Australia’s big four banks had a spare $7m to spend on the Voice ‘Yes’ campaign. And they made hundreds of staff redundant as they did it, amid a cost-of-living crisis.
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Australia’s biggest companies funnelled millions of dollars into the failed campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament while laying off hundreds of Australians already struggling in a cost of living crisis.
The four big banks collectively spent more than $7m on the Yes campaign — which failed to convince Australians in any of the states — while making hundreds of employees redundant.
Other big corporates like Telstra provided $1m in advertising allocation months after making 472 staff redundant.
Liberal leader Peter Dutton blasted the corporations for virtue signalling when the money could have been spent to save jobs and livelihoods.
“At the same time they were backing the Voice, big corporates were sacking workers,” he said.
“I have a message to the PM and to big businesses and corporate Australia who backed the Voice: butt out of lecturing and moralising to Australians, particularly those Australians in the suburbs and regions.
“If some of these big corporates have spare shareholder money, why don’t they put that into reducing prices for consumers?
“Don’t make huge profits and sack your workers, while simultaneously investing resources in divisive political advocacy,” he said.
Nab, which laid off 222 staff in September, invested $1.5m into the campaign while rival Westpac spent $1.75m and laid off 300 staff in June.
CBA and ANZ donated $2m each with the former cutting 100 staff in July and the latter shrinking its full time workforce by 2 per cent in the year to 2023.
Telstra — which was this week forced to defend its support of the Yes camp — allocated a million in in-kind advertising spend to the campaign while laying off 472 staff.
Australian Shareholder Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse said the big corporation’s spend on the Voice was set to be a key issue during annual general meetings.
“We do think this is an issue that will come through the AGM season,” she said.
“The broader question is for boards to consider how they make decisions on social issues and how they listen to their customers, employees and investors and how they communicate that decision.”
The investment did not appear to pay off with 44 per cent of Australians thinking corporate involvement in the referendum was inappropriate while just 30 per cent felt it was a good idea, according to research from campaign and marketing advisory firm Society Advisory.
Yaron Finklestein, founding partner of Society, said “our research shows that voters on both sides of the debate did not like the idea of companies taking a position,” adding heat there was “almost no net positive” for companies getting involved with politics.
“Whether you’re yes or no, voters are basically fed up with being told what to do or think.”
Marketing guru Toby Ralph said that too many brands were “infested with corporate affairs and PR companies telling them people want them to take a position on social issues.”
Mr Ralph said that this could lead to “disastrous” effects, pointing to Bud Light’s use of transgender influencer Dylan Mulveny and Gillette’s use of an ad campaign for razor blades to attack “toxic masculinity.”
“It wasn’t that people disagreed with the message” that got the companies in trouble, “it was they didn’t want to be hectored by a woke razor blade.”
All six organisations were contacted for a response.
A spokesman for Telstra said: “We helped the Yes campaign with paid advertising space to the value of $1 million as a practical way to put action to our long-time support for reconciliation. This occurred well after our July structure announcement.”
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Originally published as Big banks sacked staff while funnelling millions into failed Voice
Read related topics:Voice To Parliament