Yahoo Finance Banks, insurers ‘price gouging’ Aussies: union
Profit for Australia’s major financial companies has grown 46 per cent since March 2021, an analysis of government data by the Australian Council of Trade Unions shows.
“Banks and insurance companies are having a lend of Australians,” union secretary Sally McManus said.
“They have put up prices, not because they need to, but to fatten their profits.
“This type of profiteering and price gouging is deeply offensive to working people who continue to struggle with cost of living pressures,” Ms McManus said.
For the past month Australia’s biggest companies have been reporting their full year financial results. Plenty of miners, retailers and manufacturers have been hit by high energy costs, labour shortages and the effects of inflation since the pandemic.
But the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the cost of insurance and financial services has risen 6.4 per cent in the past 12 months, while inflation is running at 3.8 per cent.
The cost of managing your money, getting a loan, and insuring your possessions has gone up more than housing, transport and healthcare in the past year. The only economic category which has seen higher inflation is alcohol and tobacco.
“The evidence is clear that corporate profiteering and price gouging are fuelling inflation,” Ms McManus said.
“Since March 2021, the banks have made $212bn from raising people’s interest payments, while insurance companies have hiked insurance premiums by 36 per cent. It’s no wonder the industry increased their profits by 46 per cent.”
A price gouging inquiry led by the union noted of particular concern the practice of “confusion pricing”, where companies use complex fee structures to make price comparisons tough.
This recent end of financial year reporting sheds some light though.
Commonwealth Bank posted a $9.4bn profit this year. IAG insurance profits rose 79 per cent, to $1.4bn.
Profits at Suncorp’s insurance business rose 17 per cent to $801m. QBE made $802m in profit in the first half of the 2024 financial year, virtually doubling last year’s result.
