Bank profits should be kept in New Zealand, writes John Milnes. Photo / 123RF
The banks are under scrutiny, notably the Australian-owned, for the gross profits going over the Tasman - about $6 billion a year. This is worse than gross, it’s verging on the obscene.
It’s notable that even the Act Party found it worth noting, probably more because they thought it would
be political than any concern over fairness.
In fact, it was perhaps telling that David Seymour thought the best answer was that what we needed was an American bank in the mix. Quite how this would reduce the $6b making overseas investors richer I can’t fathom. It does perhaps show where Seymour’s interests lie.
I would say to many of the people who were shocked by these Aussie profits, there is a simple answer - change to a Kiwi bank, Not just Kiwibank, of course, but there are a number of other NZ-owned banks and building society banks that keep and use their money here. It is now easier to change banks since rules were changed to stop banks from making it difficult.
It was soon after Kiwibank started (2001) that I joined, but I can still hear that earlier Act Party leader, Rodney Hide, stating that Kiwibank wouldn’t last, and now Seymour still thinks that an overseas bank is a better answer. How about Silicon Valley Bank, or perhaps Credit Suisse?
