Westpac Bank lied - homosexual marriage saves 3000 suicides
Westpac bank slammed for 'blackmailing' staff after it mass-emailed employees to vote 'yes' to same sex marriage using 'fudged statistics.'
Westpac's youth network emailed 10,000 staff urging them to vote yes to SSM
Called vote a 'no brainer' and claimed it would prevent 3,000 suicides a year.
Email slammed as emotional 'blackmail' and a 'bad precedent' for the bank
Statistic actually referred to suicide attempts that could be averted. Westpac sent an email to staff urging them to vote yes to gay marriage, claiming it would prevent 3,000 suicides a year. The message from the bank's youth network, representing staff under 30, was sent to 10,000 of 40,000 staff and called voting yes a 'no brainer'.
But the bank admitted its statistic used in the email was a mistake and actually referred to research only talking about suicide attempts. 'We said that we would get that information clarified to the staff and we will do that,' Westpac spokesman David Lording told The Australian.
'While we're not one to tell anyone how to roll, this is a no-brainer (if Tony Abbott's daughter is publicly voting yes, so should you),' it read.
'Along with ensuring all our colleagues and mates feel included and have equal rights, legalising SSM would prevent 3000 suicides per year.'
The email's claim relied on a September 21 press release by the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre telling Australians to consider the link between LGBTI discrimination and suicide. It said as many as 3,000 youth suicide attempts a year could be prevented if gay marriage was made legal.
That claim relied on U.S. research published in April in JAMA Paediatrics finding a seven per cent reduction in suicide attempts by high school students from gay marriage being instituted.
The research was disputed by other academics as the motives for suicide attempts weren't reported and there was often not a 'single cause'.
Last year there were 2,866 suicides, down from 3,027 the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
'While we're not one to tell anyone how to roll, this is a no-brainer (if Tony Abbott's daughter is publicly voting yes, so should you),' it read.
'Along with ensuring all our colleagues and mates feel included and have equal rights, legalising SSM would prevent 3000 suicides per year.'
The email's claim relied on a September 21 press release by the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre telling Australians to consider the link between LGBTI discrimination and suicide. It said as many as 3,000 youth suicide attempts a year could be prevented if gay marriage was made legal.
That claim relied on U.S. research published in April in JAMA Paediatrics finding a seven per cent reduction in suicide attempts by high school students from gay marriage being instituted.
The research was disputed by other academics as the motives for suicide attempts weren't reported and there was often not a 'single cause'.
Last year there were 2,866 suicides, down from 3,027 the year before, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
