Banks not acting in our best interest with businesses discriminated against

Banks have an obligation to law-abiding businesses instead of discriminating against them, argues John McKillop.

Bank Australia benefits from a taxpayer-funded guaranteed safety net, yet discriminates against the red meat industry. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Paul Jeffers

Whether it’s a driver’s licence, a gun licence or a property agent licence, all licences give special rights in exchange for respecting required obligations.

Banking licences that confer financial corporations as “authorised deposit-taking institutions” are particularly special in Australia. Not only do they grant a unique privilege that allows banks to accept deposits from the public, they also provide banks with a taxpayer-funded guaranteed safety net for deposits.

Any reasonable person would think that with such a significant right that guarantees a business model, banks would have an equally significant obligation to Australian taxpayers.

However, this is sadly not the case. Banks in Australia are free to discriminate against law-abiding businesses.

Banks such as Bank Australia actively discriminate against the 77,000 businesses operating across Australia’s red meat and livestock supply chain – a supply chain that collectively employs more than 434,000 proud Australians, 90 per cent of whom live in rural and regional areas.

Those 434,000 hardworking graziers, livestock transporters, meat workers and butchers all pay taxes and are all obliged to collectively guarantee Bank Australia’s deposits.

Yet Bank Australia has no obligation to provide services to their industry.

Not content with sponsoring misinformation and baseless attacks against Australia’s red meat and livestock industry, Bank Australia actively discriminates against red meat and livestock businesses by refusing them service.

Bank Australia shamelessly advertises its discriminatory practices, not lending to certain animal production systems and livestock exporters.

Being an authorised deposit taking institution is not a right, it is a privilege that is provided in trust to financial corporations by the Australian people. It is for this reason, on behalf of Australia’s red meat and livestock supply chain, the Red Meat Advisory Council has written to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission seeking an investigation into Bank Australia’s discriminatory practices.

While some might question why the industry would worry about the approach of a very minor bank with only 14 branches, the concern is about the principle of mutual obligations, that is, if Bank Australia wants the privilege of taxpayer protection, they must not discriminate against, and denigrate legitimate businesses.

Access to financial services is essential for red meat and livestock businesses to effectively operate throughout commodity and climate cycles.

Without sufficient access to financial services, Australia’s red meat and livestock industry will suffer from a lack of investment in systems and processes, missing opportunities to build enabling capabilities to compete internationally.

If left unaddressed, the financial viability of Australia’s red meat and livestock industry risks being ransomed to extreme activist agendas.

● John McKillop is the Red Meat Advisory Council chairman

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