Protesters demand ANZ stops banking services for mining company
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
A coalition of climate justice groups have protested outside Bathurst Resources’ Wellington office demanding an end to the expansion of a coal mine on the Denniston Plateau.
Protesters marched to ANZ’s Willis St offices, which provides banking services for the coal mining company.
Bathurst Resources is seeking fast-track approval to extend the life of the near-depleted Stockton mine on the West Coast for another 25 years, and to mine 20 million tonnes of coking coal for export.
About 50 protesters camped out at the Escarpment mine site and climbed into coal buckets in April in opposition to the application.
Campaign spokesperson Tim Jones said about 30 people attended the protest in the capital on Tuesday, which he said was a “really good turn-out”.
He said the protesters wanted to keep the focus on Bathurst and its funder ANZ, and that the world was facing regular extreme weather events made worse by the climate crisis.
“We need to keep the coal in the hole,” Jones said. “This project is not about keeping the lights on in Aotearoa as all the coal is exported to be burnt in other countries.
“It’s not even about supporting NZ industry – none of this coal would be going to them.”
He said NZ Steel was about to start using its electric arc furnace, halving coal consumption at its Glenbrook plant.
“This project (the Denniston expansion) is being bankrolled by the ANZ Bank. Other companies such as BNZ and Kiwibank have committed to shutting down banking services to those expanding coal mining. It’s time for the ANZ Bank to do the same,” Jones said.
The protest action was orgnised by Climate Liberation Aotearoa, Climate Action VUW, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Oil Free Wellington and 350 Aotearoa.
It is part of an ongoing campaign which has seen weeks of action, with protests around the country as well as the occupation of the Stockton mine and Denniston Plateau in April. It is planning a further day of action on August 8.
An ANZ NZ spokesperson said it did not lend more than $1 million to customers in the coal mining sector. It did provide necessary transactional banking services such as payroll and company credit cards to some customers in the sector.
“Our policy is that we will not lend to new thermal coal mines, or to expansions, or extensions to the operating life of existing mines. And we will not directly finance new coal-fired power plants, including expansions.”
It also did not provide direct lending to customers who derived more than 10% of their revenue from thermal coal mining or coal-fired generation, the spokesperson said.
The bank had been working to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels and increase its lending to those investing in renewables and low-emissions technologies.
As at 30 September 2024, ANZ NZ's lending exposure to mining (including oil and gas) was $159 million, down from $181m in 2023. In the 2024 financial year, this accounted for about 0.11% of its assessed lending exposure.
“We have set a target to fund and facilitate at least $20b by the end of [the 2030 financial year] in social and environmental activities through customer transactions and direct investments by ANZ.”