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

The Bendigo Bank spin doctors like to say they're 'the better big bank'. As we all know, self-praise is no recommendation. I'm sorry to say the contagion of arrogance has spread from the big four to the Bendigo Bank. On its own website, the Bendigo Bank says it has big responsibilities, and its biggest responsibility is to do the right thing. So I say to the Bendigo Bank corporate executives: how about you start practising what you preach? The Bendigo Bank corporate executives have just sent out letters, without any consultation whatsoever, to agencies of the Bendigo Bank—so they're small agencies, small-business people who have provided a small service in these regional towns, including in my home town of Lakes Entrance—saying the agencies will close at the end of June. There's no regard for the staff who will lose their jobs. There's no regard for those vulnerable customers of the Bendigo Bank who thought that little agency was going to be there for them to go in and do their personal banking. This will hit the most vulnerable people in our regional communities, and the Bendigo Bank has done no consultation with the small-business owners who host that bank.

I've previously called for a moratorium on all bank closures while the Senate inquiry does its work. I call on the Bendigo Bank to stop closing its agencies, at least until the Senate inquiry does its work. I say to the Bendigo Bank: you say you're the better big bank; do better. Banks need to explore innovative solutions to maintain those face-to-face services which are critical for small-business owners and a wide range of customers who aren't capable of using online banking and simply need some personal assistance at a branch or agency to access their own money.

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