Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

CHESTER () (): The contempt of banking executives towards regional Australia is well known, with more than 1,600 branches closing in the past six years. In Gippsland, we've experienced dozens of closures in our smaller towns, but now Westpac is going a step further.

Forget about crooks wearing balaclavas; the real bank robbers are the executives making decisions in city boardrooms. These corporate bank-robbers are robbing country towns of jobs, they're robbing vulnerable people of services and they're robbing regional Australia of growth opportunities.

Westpac has just announced it's closing a branch in the city of Sale, which is a town of more than 14,000 people and services a much larger agricultural region. It is a town which is a centre of economic activity in that central Gippsland region.

My advice to Westpac customers in Sale is this: wherever possible, move your business. Move your business to a bank that still has a branch in your town. It's time to teach these bankers a lesson. Take your money across the street. Refinance your home loan. If Westpac executives only want to focus on their own huge profits, it's time to hit them where it hurts. It's time for customers to stop being held to ransom. It's time for the corporate bank-robbers to receive a message. Move your money to another bank.

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