Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Westpac Place Level 20, 275 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 TEL

+61 2 82547069

25 July 2013

Mrs Beatson Byron Aged Care 1 Buttler Street Byron Bay NSW 2481 Cc: Mr Jim Beatson, Gail Kelly, Brian Hartzer, Greg Targett, Phillip Coffey, Lindsay Maxsted and Elizabeth Bryan, Jo Osborne. Dear Mrs Beatson, Thank you for writing to Westpac to confirm the reasons for closing your accounts. As the accountable General Manager for this area Christine Parker has asked me to respond to you on her behalf. I wanted to personally thank you for taking the time to write to us to explain your concerns and provide us with an opportunity to respond. We take our sustainability credentials very seriously. Over many years Westpac has developed a strong track record in sustainability and carbon solutions which has been recognised globally. Our focus has always been on anticipating emerging environmental challenges for our business and our customers and developing practical products and services in response. We take great care to ensure that the projects we support have undergone appropriate environmental due diligence and continue to monitor and manage their impacts during operation. Westpac was a founding signatory of the Equator Principles over a decade ago which provides a framework for considering environmental and social risk. This year we signed the latest revision of the principles to more explicitly include the consideration of climate change and the opportunities to reduce emissions associated with individual projects. Our approach also regularly includes the need for an independent environmental assessment of the proposed project. In relation to fossil fuels specifically we have long been an advocate for the need to transition to a low carbon economy, including advocating for early action on climate change. This transition will take time but we are working to help facilitate the process in two key ways. The first is by working with clients with high carbon risk to help them manage and mitigate this risk. This can include additional conditions on funding in relation to energy efficiency as well as the launch of energy efficiency leases and other products to reduce our national emissions.

The s second has been b to supp port those se ectors that are delivering the t transition n. This year West tpac has mad de a commitm ment to mak ke available up u to $6 billio on in lending and investm ment to the e CleanTech and environ nmental serviices sector. We a are committed d to continuing this work and to deve eloping produ ucts and serv vices to help all our customers ma anage their environmenta e al impacts. I am pleased that t you have be een happy w with the servic ce provided both by the t team in Byro on Bay and in n New Zeala and, and we hope that yo ou will consid der banking with w us again n in the future e.

Yours s sincerely

lyn McCann Carol Gene eral Manager r Corpo orate Affairs & Sustainab bility