Activists vow to continue protests against Westpac over Adani funding

Environmental activists have warned they will continue to target Westpac over the proposed Adani coal mine.

Anti-Adani coalmine protesters outside Westpac’s 200th birthday event at Redfern in inner Sydney on Saturday. Picture: Will Glasgow

Environmental activists have warned they will continue to target Westpac over the proposed Adani coalmine in Queensland, despite the nation’s second-largest lender saying it had not been ­approached to fund the project.

A rally, organised by a collection of 13 environmental groups, crashed Westpac’s 200th anniversary celebrations at Carriageworks, in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern, on Saturday, halting proceedings for about 90 minutes as police unchained a protester from a metal post inside the event.

Several hundred protesters calling for the Adani mine to be stopped greeted guests, including Scott Morrison and former Queensland premier — now the new Australian Bankers Association chief — Anna Bligh, by waving signs, blowing whistles and banging on the window of some taxis and cars going into the area.

Other guests included NSW Governor David Hurley, Westpac chairman Lindsay Maxsted, ­former Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly, and other executives of major companies, including Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott, who ­attended the function, said corporate Australia must be as “steadfast” in its advocacy for business as its opponents were in their activism. “However, we will never ­peddle mistruths or seek to bully our critics into submission — that’s where we draw the line, and they should too,” she said.

Westpac’s decision against publicly or privately ruling out funding the project has made it a high-profile target for protesters amid suggestions the government may fund new coal projects.

“The Westpac group has not been approached to fund Adani,” Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer told the 800-plus guests at the event. “The suggestion, as many people believe, that we are funding Adani is fake news.”

Mr Hartzer said Westpac had environmental principles that say “if we get a proposal, we run them through some screenings. If it doesn’t pass the screenings, we won’t proceed’.

“But we do have a very simple principle, which is very important, that we do not speak about ­individual customers,” he added. Ms Bligh, premier when the Adani project was declared a project of state significance with the possibility of creating 11,000 jobs, ­declined to comment as it was a matter for Westpac.

Mr Hartzer said Westpac “has very high standards around climate” and said it stuck by its principles to “not talk about individual customers, particularly for things we haven’t even been asked to fund”. In 2015, National Australia Bank said it would not finance the project, while the Commonwealth Bank has ended an advisory role it held with Adani. ANZ last year told shareholders the bank was decreasing lending to thermal coal.

“Westpac has not said anything about future funding,” campaigns directors at 350.org Charlie Wood said. Environmental groups, ­including 350.org, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Market Forces and Greenpeace walked out of a third meeting with Westpac after failing to draw ­commitment from the bank.

GetUp! activist Shaun Murray said the “disruption (on Saturday night) pales in significance relative to the destruction that the Adani project would cause’’.