ANZ will be honest and open in future: David Gonski

The Australian 12:00am September 6, 2018

Damon Kitney

EXCLUSIVE  ANZ chairman David Gonski has issued a strident defence of the banking sector and its importance as the “vital arteries of the community”, but promised that if his bank made a mistake in the future, “we will own up to it, we will rectify it and we will learn from it”.

In his first public comments since the banking royal commission started earlier this year, Mr Gonski said bankers had the ­ability to become multipliers for changing lives and that he took on the ANZ job “to be part of doing something good”.

Mr Gonski also defended the integrity of ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott as all of the four major bank bosses and their executives have been tarnished by damaging revelations in the hearings.

“If we make a mistake we will own up to it, we will rectify it and we will learn from it,’’ he told The Australian on the sidelines of the Philanthropy Australia national conference in Melbourne yesterday. In its submission to the royal commission earlier this year, ANZ acknowledged that when things had gone wrong in the past, it had taken too long in some instances to recognise the issue and remediate its customers.

Earlier, in a conference forum, Mr Gonski was asked how ANZ would be different in five years time. “We will be different in the sense that we will be honest and open.

“We will be different in a sense that we will look to our customers to try and do what the customers want us to do,’’ he said. “We have 46,000 people working for us. Some people will make mistakes, some people will do bad things. But overall they are very good people and they are people that are wanting to make a difference.”

In January ANZ agreed to pay $5 million in penalties for 24 breaches of responsible lending provisions after its former finance subsidiary Esanda approved suspected fraudulent car loans from brokers.

In June the bank admitted several instances of misconduct and conduct falling below community standards with its agricultural customers following royal commission hearings into banking practices in the rural sector.

Mr Gonski said that when he appointed Mr Elliott, who took over the job 2½ years ago, he was a chief executivre “who I felt had my values and had a real understanding of what the world expects”.

“And I believe Shayne Elliott is exactly that person. And if you don’t agree with me then you haven’t read what he has been saying,’’ he said. “He takes a very strong attitude, he is a boy from humble origins in New Zealand and he understands that it is not just about making money.”

His comments came as Labor leader Bill Shorten yesterday called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend the royal commission or change its terms of reference to allow for more evidence from victims of misconduct.

Currently the commission is expected to provide an interim report by the end of the month, ahead of a final report by February 1 next year. Next Monday it begins its sixth set of public hearings, examining insurance.

On the broader issue of philanthropy, Mr Gonski said there was a “higher purpose than spending on another holiday, a better motor vehicle or a bigger house”.

Philanthropy Australia and the US-based Foundation Center will today launch Foundation Maps: Australia, a new interactive online platform providing increased insights into the grant-making practices of Australian foundations.

“For far too long the philanthropic sector has been hamstrung by a lack of information and now, for the first time, users will be able to see where grants are going across the country as well as where Australian funders are granting overseas,’’ said Philanthropy Australia CEO Sarah Davies.

She said users would be able to see funding trends, identify others funding in their areas of interest and discover potential new partners for collaboration.

The platforms allows users to search by grant, grant-maker, and grant recipient location, as well as by subject area, support strategy, organisation name, year, size, keyword, grant-maker type and transaction type.