Westpac may have recorded a 7-billion-dollar profit in its latest financial accounts, released yesterday, but its contribution to the iconic rescue helicopter which bears its name and logo is much less than most people think.
It costs around 50 million dollars a year to keep the lifesaving chopper in the skies above northern New South Wales.
Westpac contributes less than 10 percent of that cost.
New polling research by The Australia Institute reveals most NSW residents think Westpac contributes significantly more. Almost half (48%) think the big bank funds half or more of the cost of the rescue service, including 13 percent who think Westpac funds the entire Westpac Rescue Helicopter service in Northern NSW.
Just 7 percent of those polled correctly identified that Westpac contributes less than 10 percent.
It is NSW residents who overwhelmingly fund the rescue helicopter's operations, despite Westpac taking credit for the services it buys the naming rights for.
Key findings:
- In 2023, the NSW Government contributed most of the operation's $57 million in revenue, followed by donations. All sponsors, of which Westpac is just one, contributed just $3.8 million (7%).
- Only 7% of residents in NSW correctly identified less than 10% as the amount Westpac contributes to the running of the rescue helicopter.
- 13% of residents thought Westpac covered the entire cost of the rescue services for which is has naming rights.
"Westpac gains a great deal of goodwill and community support for the Northern NSW Rescue Helicopter, but it is the NSW taxpayer who funds the rescue helicopter's operations," said Bill Browne, Director of The Australia Institute's Democracy & Accountability Program.
"Residents of NSW can be proud that it is their tax dollars that fund the vital work done by the Northern NSW Rescue Helicopter, even though Westpac takes the credit.
"Major companies making billions of dollars of profit use clever marketing to exaggerate the small contributions they make to the community. Publicly listed corporations should be required to be transparent about the nature and volume of corporate philanthropy that they engage in.
"Corporate donations are no substitute for paying taxes when it comes to contributing to Australian communities."
