Our involvement in the Cook Islands

Westpac was established in the Cook Islands in 1988. Since then, our employees have been actively involved in the community in partnership with various organisations. They have also developed initiatives that contribute to a more sustainable way of living and doing business to benefit the environment.

In recent times, Westpac has been involved in a variety of sponsorships and community-based initiatives. These include:

• Red Cross People Saver Partnership – First Aid in Primary Schools
• Revive the Children’s Ward (Kid-Zone) at Rarotonga Hospital
• The Cook Islands Triathlon
• The Christmas Giving Tree
• Westpac Annual Golf Classic
• National Environment Services Environment Week
• Rarotonga Rotary Club
• The Round Raro Road Race
• Lagoon Day – Promoting Lagoon Preservation Awareness
• Aitutaki and Rarotonga Sailing Clubs

Our strategy for getting involved in the community is simple. We embed community involvement into our business model, so that in effect, it becomes part of our organisational culture - the way we do things.

Westpac continues our 'greening' initiative which has resulted in a reduced carbon footprint for Westpac in Rarotonga. This concerted effort takes a holistic approach to saving energy and includes replacing vehicles with motorbikes, introducing timers on air-conditioners, upgrading printers and improved controls for ordering stationery and more. These efforts have significantly reduced energy consumption for Westpac and the bills for these utilities.

A local employee, Moana Williams, has been recognised for her involvement in the Aitutaki Conservation Trust. Moana won the Westpac Group CEO's Gold Award for Environment in 2009. This prestigious internal award was an opportunity across the 40,000-strong Westpac Group staff population and the Cook Islands team is very proud of Moana’s achievement and passion for the local environment.

We are also members of or signatories to a number of multi-stakeholder and international organisations and agreements dedicated to raising corporate responsibility performance.