ANZ, CBA, Westpac and NAB donate about $7m to Indigenous voice to parliament Yes vote

The size of the major banks’ donations has triggered Coalition claims that the case for change ‘is being made by our elites, for our elites’.

A Yes campaign rally at Parramatta Square in Western Sydney on Sunday. Photo: Chris Huang

The big four banks have donated around $7m to the Yes campaign for an Indigenous voice to parliament, sparking claims from the Coalition the case for change was “made by our elites, for our elites and funded by our elites”.

The extent of the donations have been revealed to federal parliament for the first time just days out from Saturday’s referendum, with Westpac contributing $1.75m, National Australia Bank donating $1.5m and Commonwealth Bank providing $2m.

The ANZ’s roughly $2m donation was confirmed during a parliamentary committee on bank closures in regional Australia last month. If ANZ’s donation was exactly $2m, the total amount from the major banks would equate to $7.25m.

Westpac also said it had agreed to requests from employees to provide in-kind support for the Yes campaign.

“At present there are 14 employees providing predominantly part-time support (to the Yes campaign),” the bank said in a response to questions from the committee’s chair, Nationals senator Matt Canavan.

“These costs have not yet been calculated as the activity is still underway. These costs are considered ‘in-kind’ referendum expenditure and will be disclosed in full to the Australian Electoral Commission.”

NAB provides Australian-based employees with 16 hours of volunteer leave per calendar year and this may be used to volunteer for the Yes and No campaigns. The specific organisations that employees volunteer for are not tracked.

The Yes campaign has furiously denied claims from the No camp that it’s war chest will reach $100m but has said it expects to reach at least $50m through its Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition funding vehicle.

Senator Canavan, whose party opposes the voice, said of the big four banks’ contributions: “The Yes campaign has been made by our elites, for our elites and funded by our elites. At a time of rising mortgage pressure, why are the banks spending so much money on a political issue supported by only a clear minority of Australians? The banks should focus on their customers, not on politics.”

A Yes23 campaign spokesman said Senator Canavan appeared to have forgotten that billionaire businessman Clive Palmer was “pouring millions into advocating for a No vote”.

Mr Palmer has said he will spend $2m promoting the No vote while Simon Fenwick, one of the top five donors to the No campaign, will donate $750,000.

“Thousands and thousands of everyday Australians, from all walks of life, have made grassroots donations to the Yes campaign,” the Yes23 spokesman said.

NAB noted that of its $1.5m in donations, $1.3m of the money was sent through the NAB Foundation, which “uses philanthropy, social investment and in-kind support to fund social and environmental progress in Australia”.

The Australian revealed last month that companies, individuals and groups including BHP, Rio Tinto, Anthony Pratt, Wesfarmers, the Paul Ramsay Foundation, NAB Foundation, ANZ and Qantas have publicly disclosed more than $26.7m in donations to Yes23, including subsidised travel costs and office space.

Leading Yes campaigner Noel Pearson on Monday said the referendum was a “moral choice” and a No vote would “bring shame to the country” and be a travesty the nation may possibly never live down.

He backed in Anthony Albanese’s decision not to legislate the voice if the referendum failed.

Peter Dutton wouldn’t outline a timetable for a second referendum solely on constitutional recognition, saying it would be worked out in time in the event of a No vote.