Commonwealth Bank record profit: Call for young farmer assistance

With Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn enjoying a $10.4 million payday, farm leaders says the big four can do more.

Farm lobby leaders have urged Australia’s big four banks to do more to give young primary producers a hand into farm ownership, after Commonwealth Bank posted record profits.

Commonwealth Bank revealed a record cash profit on Wednesday of $10.16 billion with chief executive Matt Comyn receiving a $10.4 million pay packet in the year to June.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said record property prices last year coupled with surging interest rates this year was an expensive proposition for many primary producers.

“Absolutely the banks should be pulling more levers to allow young farmers to buy their first farm,” Ms Germano said.

“There’s arguably never been a more difficult time as a young farmer to enter the market and we can’t afford not to enable the next generation of farmers to get the land they need to actually farm.”

In Victoria, stamp duty concessions and exemptions granted to young farmers peaked during the 2020-21 property price surge.

Statistics released by the Victorian Government show 175 transactions by prospective primary producers were given stamp duty relief in 2020-21 — a record high since the initiative was introduced during the 2011-12 financial year.

But the figures declined sharply as the credit crunch squeezed buyers out of the market.

NSW Farmers policy chief Kathy Rankin said prohibitively priced property had made it increasingly challenging for new farmers to enter the sector.

“While there are options to enter through being a farm manager or by leasing land, getting a foothold through land ownership is taking longer,” Ms Rankin said.

“This presents a fundamental problem for our future: Who will grow our food in the future if no-one can afford to become a farmer?”

Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn this week.

The Commonwealth Bank’s 2022-23 result was up more than 5 per cent overall, with CBA attributing the rise in earnings mainly to a jump in net interest margins — the gap between what the bank pays to borrow money and the interest rates it receives from lending it out.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association acting chief executive Alastair Cameron said it was a tough time for prospective primary producers.

“The cost of money has been increasing and commodity prices are falling,” he said.

“There is most certainly a cost-price squeeze at the moment.

“The TFGA encourages ongoing dialogue between financial institutions and young farmers to ensure their unique circumstances are understood.”