Major bank takes animal welfare advice from animal activist group

ANZ says it was in discussions with one of Australia’s most high-profile animal welfare organisations to bring the bank in line with “industry standards”.

One of Australia’s major banking institutions has been seeking advice on animal welfare from an animal activist group.

ANZ bank said in its 2021 environmental, social and corporate governance supplement it had developed an animal welfare principles document “to reflect its approach and clarify our position following discussions with customers, industry groups, Animals Australia and the RSPCA”.

The bank said the principles would bring the bank into line with industry standards.

Its affiliation with an animal rights group comes just weeks after The Weekly Times revealed major retailers Woolworths and Coles were aiming to climb the ranks of the United Kingdom-based Business Benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare. The benchmark is run by two animal activist groups – Four Paws and Compassion in World Farming – intent on halving the number of animals farmed for food by 2040.

“While we are not aware of any specific issues within our business, there have been campaigns for banks to cease business with companies engaged in intensive animal farming practices,” ANZ said in its ESG supplement.

“For example, we received over 2000 emails in 2020 and 2021 supporting Animals Australia’s position, all of which we responded to explaining our work to consider the issues and offering discussions with the complainants.”

ANZ would not confirm whether it had also engaged with the agriculture industry.

Australian Live Exporters’ Council chief executive Mark Harvey-Sutton called out ANZ’s connection with the animal welfare organisation as virtue signalling.

“I’ve always taken the view that if they were actually serious about improving animal welfare, they would invest in it and not seek to take funds away,” he said.

Live exports being loaded at Corio Quay. Picture: Alison Wynd

High-profile animal activist group Animals Australia has been running a two-year campaign targeting farm finance practices, pushing lenders to stop financing companies involved with live exports, intensive farming and mulesing.

The organisation urges banking customers to get in touch with their bank to “commit them to developing more ethical banking policies”.

In ANZ’s latest 2022 ESG supplement however, there is no reference to Animals Australia, nor in its animal welfare principles document.

The document says the bank values and supports its farming customers that treat animals with due care and respect.

“We believe this reflects Australian community standards and farmer standards of ‘doing the right thing’, noting that industry codes and policy across various sub-sectors and geographies evolve with continuing research and expert stakeholder advocacy and feedback,” the document said.

Lending to Australian farming businesses sits at more than $90 million. According to the Australian Banking Association, its members lent an average of $4.2 billion to agribusinesses on a monthly basis in the year to February last year, a 29 per cent increase on the previous year.