New Zealand First’s woke banking bill to be debated

Thursday, 20 February 2025

New Zealand First MP Andy Foster’s name is on the woke banking bill, but it is Shane Jones’ creation.

Parliament will get to debate New Zealand First’s woke banking bill after it was drawn from the ballot on Thursday.

The private members’ bill in the name of New Zealand First MP Andy Foster would ban banks from discriminating against businesses because of the sector they were involved in when deciding whether to give them a loan.

It was designed to prevent banks from debanking the likes of petrol stations, coal miners and farmers for environmental or social reasons.

The bill was drafted after Resources Minister Shane Jones heard about the struggles of a coal mine and a petrol station to get bank funding, prompting Jones to say it was not the business of banks to impose a “moral order on New Zealand”.

Federated Farmers banking spokesperson Richard McIntyre was pleased Parliament would debate the issue.

'Banks have been under huge pressure recently for some of their more unpalatable lending practices,' he said.

Federated Farmers' Richard McIntyre gives MPs his recipe for getting farmers a better deal from banks.

'This bill is only going to add to that scrutiny and will shine a white-hot light on big banks that have been forcing their ideological views down the throats of everyday New Zealanders.'

Federated Farmers appeared before Parliament’s banking inquiry on Wednesday to call for a fairer deal from banks for farmers, and to appeal to MPs to: “Get Adrian Orr to stop punishing rural New Zealand with overly conservative risk settings.”

“Federated Farmers support this Bill and will be encouraging all Government parties to throw their support in behind it,' McIntyre said.

“Lending decisions should be based on financial drivers, not ideological or political considerations. Legitimate New Zealand businesses, like farms and petrol stations, should not be unfairly targeted by banks because of the industry we operate in.”

At the Wednesday banking inquiry hearing Federated Farmers was asked by Labour’s Deborah Russell to stop using the “clobber word” woke, while Green Party co-leader pushed back on the idea that banks should be prevented from factoring climate risk into their lending decisions.