Banker, spare that possum Terry Lane
Melbourne Age October 13 2002
The capitalist Spouse is in a quandary. She likes to think of herself as a moral person, but the world of business, in which she has a small stake, thinks that morality is for sooks. The Spouse is arriving at the jaundiced conclusion that history is, indeed, over and that the bad guys have won.
Take the case of the Commonwealth Bank and the woodchippers.
The bank gives her notice of its general meeting, and with it comes a notice of motion, proposed by the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, to change the constitution of the bank so that it will take into account "excellence in environment performance" in making investment decisions.
The immediate aim of the resolution is to get the bank to divest itself of its investment in the Tasmanian woodchip company Gunns. The Commonwealth is a major shareholder in this company, which the Wilderness Society holds responsible for the destruction of old-growth forest, together with all the furry and feathered creatures that dwelt therein.
The chairman of the bank, Mr John Ralph, writes in his "Hello there small investor" letter: "The bank's directors do not believe that the resolution proposed in item 3 is in the best interest of the bank and shareholders. They do not support the resolution and intend to vote against it. The annual general meeting of the bank is not an occasion to be used by special interest groups to publicise their causes." Unless the special interest groups represent the giant corporations that control our daily lives - that is a quoll of a different colour.
The Spouse is appalled and, when I sarcastically observe, "Quelle surprise!" she castigates me for cynicism and moral relativism.
"Well, that's capitalism mate. Red in tooth and claw. Remember the words of the investment adviser at the bank when you told him you didn't want your retirement nest-egg invested in companies that profit from woodchipping, tobacco, gambling or armaments? He said, 'In that case I can't help you'."
It is hard being moral in an immoral world. Many years ago, I knew a man in whom there was not a shred of humbug and whose courage depressed me because I couldn't match it. He was a Presbyterian clergyman, a pacifist and opposed to the war in Vietnam. Like Thoreau, this man believed that, when the taxman comes to collect the war tax, you should politely show him the door and refuse to pay.
How could he do that, I hear you ask. Simple. He gave away his money to tax-deductible charities until he had reduced his income below the tax threshold. He reckoned, again like Thoreau, that any person who owns money, property or appliances is already co-opted and compromised by the forces of darkness.
It is a counsel of perfection and few of us are up to it. I see that church leaders, to their credit, are suggesting that we not pay our "kill the Iraqis" war levy - but how do we avoid it? It will be added to the Medicare levy so that the evil will somehow be sanctified by association with the good. The only way to avoid it is to embrace poverty, sell your Commonwealth Bank shares and live aloof from society.
But then I ask myself, why should we capitulate? Why do we assume that Mr Ralph and his fellow directors are impervious to persuasive argument and should so easily win the last word? How much would it hurt the bank's bottom line to get out of Gunns and reinvest the money in a company that makes solar panels? Nothing. Their obduracy has nothing to do with shareholders' dividends, it is an ideological prejudice. You don't get to run a big bank by being squeamish about trees and Tasmanian devils, do you? So, on behalf of the Spouse, I beg you chaps to reconsider. She doesn't want any dividend cheque that has on it the blood of a single possum. Can you understand that?