ACTU – Commonwealth Bank sponsorship of Australian of the Year completely inappropriate

27 November 2018

Commonwealth Bank sponsorship of Australian of the Year completely inappropriateThe ACTU has called for the Commonwealth Bank, currently at the centre of the banking royal commission and potentially facing thousands of criminal and civil charges as a result, to end its inappropriate sponsorship of the Australian of the Year awards.

Allowing a disgraced bank to use a national institution to repair its image is a disgrace.

Commonwealth Bank has been found to be charging fees to dead people and charging fees for services that were never provided, alongside almost every other type of exploitation and misconduct it is possible for a bank to commit.

Quotes attributable to ACTU Assistant Secretary Scott Connolly:

• “Commonwealth Bank has been found to be entirely morally bankrupt – an organisation which has for decades profited by exploiting the trust of the Australian people, enriching itself at the expense of hard-working Australians.
• “It is hard to imagine an organisation less suitable to sponsor an award which symbolises the best of Australian society.
• “The banks revelations of the banking royal commission leave no room for doubt. This is an organisation with a sick, rotten leadership culture. It has swindled working people – including its own workers – and destroyed lives.
• “This disgraced company has no business sponsoring our highest national honour.”