If it was the end of a Big Green Bubble, it would look a lot like this…

Australia is still launching itself to Net Zero Land at the top of the Magic Faraway Tree. There was no election in Australia, and no change to the green policies. Yet, a month after the US banks quietly peeled themselves away from the Globalist Banker Blob, the first Australian bank starts backing away slowly too. They don't explain why in any convincing fashion. Have they just lost the faith that renewables are going to work, or is this just the end of the subsidy train?

Banks must hold firm on net zero

Kyle Robertson, Senior banking analyst, Australian Financial Review

This decision by Macquarie makes little sense, prioritising political expediency and short-term financial interests over the longer-term viability of its business and the economy.

Macquarie Bank has sent shockwaves around the world by quietly announcing it has quit the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) this week, taking the dubious honour of being the first major Australian financial institution to pull out of a global climate initiative.

The senior banking analyst is baffled after Macquarie spent years pumping up renewables:

It is hard to understand this sudden backslide after Macquarie spent years building up its reputation as a green bank. Macquarie chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake has been a feature of global climate conferences for years, promoting the need for large-scale public and private sector investment into renewable energy and climate adaptation initiatives.

The CEO was even recognized as "Time's 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders in Business for 2023" ferrgoodnesssake!

Yet look at the power of bully bankers…

Robertson speaks in approving tones about the Australian bankers that are hobbling law abiding companies from providing a service consenting adults want to pay for.

ANZ and Westpac are still using corporate finance and bonds to finance companies expanding oil and gas. In contrast, the country's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, has ended finance for oil and gas producers without a credible Paris-aligned transition plan. At its 2024 AGM, NAB chairman Philip Chronican indicated that by October this year, the bank would end finance for companies pursuing oil and gas field expansion.

Who voted for the bankers to set Australian energy policy anyway?

If fossil fuels are so awful Robertson (or the bankers) could always try persuading people not to use them. Until then Australians allow the bankers to hold banking licences and make squillions of dollars in profits. But in a free market, a new banker could turn up and offer loans to all the unfashionable fossil fuel companies that the precious banker club eschew. Instead, citizens pay for regulatory watchdogs and police that protect these smug banker bullies against newcomers and competition.