ANZ finances logging in Tasmania

by Russel Norman

The bank workers’ union, Finsec, have a story about ANZ financing logging of old growth forests in Tasmania. We have criticized ANZ for providing financial services to Rimbunan Hijau, the Malaysian logging company that is clearing rainforests in PNG.

ANZ Group is again under pressure from environmental groups for its support of unsustainable logging. Last week BankTrack, The Wilderness Society and Rainforest Action Network, launched an electronic petition calling on ANZ’s new CEO, Michael Smith to stop financing giant logging company Gunns Ltd.

Gunns is planning to build a new US$1.4 billion pulp mill in Tasmania that would double the company’s current rate of clear-cutting Tasmania ’s old-growth forests, consuming over 4 million tons of logs annually, including many natives.

The new CEO Michael Smith starts on Monday and has the perfect opportunity to change things at ANZ.