Group puts Aussie Bank ATMs “Out Of Order”
A group in Christchurch has placed “Out Of Order” signs on every ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac ATM overnight in a move
designed to draw attention to the contentious investment strategies these banks pursue as well as the amount of profit
they draw away from the New Zealand Economy.
The group, who call themselves “Spank the Banks”, cited the Australian Banks dubious investments such as Nuclear
Armourments as a key reason for the action. ANZ, for instance, has provided loans to eight nuclear weapons producers,
and has been under fire from environmental groups in Australia for their continued support for mining and coal based
investments.
Another reason the group gave for their action was the monopolistic ownership of the Australian banks by various other
banks involved in engineering the Global Financial Crisis. John Locke, a member of the group said “the Australian Banks
all have the exact same top four shareholders – who include JP Morgan,Citigroup and HSBC – who have recently been fined
for laundering drug-cartel money. Banking with these institutions is supporting the cowboy behaviours and attitudes
which brought about the recession.”
Finally, the group outlined how more than $3billion dollars of profit per year is being taken out of the NZ economy by
these Banks – five times the profit that Fonterra made in 2012 ($624million). “If this money were to remain in New
Zealand, through a State Owned Bank, it would be enough to make Tertiary education completely free, removing the need
for Student Loans as well as saving each taxpayer $458 per year”, Locke said.
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