Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to commend the member for Groom for this very important motion. Banking, as we know, impacts us all. Every Australian and every business is impacted, as are all of our communities. We particularly need to make sure that we have competition in the sector and that we support smaller banks to hold those bigger banks to account.

The impact of regulation that's not thought out, or overregulation, can be crippling in any industry, but particularly in banking. We already know that there are 130 new regulatory changes that banks are having to deal with. Overregulation stifles growth, stifles innovation and stifles productivity. We need to always look to get the balance right in protecting consumers, making sure the frameworks are correct, but not overregulating to cause more harm than good.

And we should never forget that overregulation entrenches big businesses over small businesses, because big businesses have the scale to amortise their costs across all consumers, across all of their companies. They also have the resources to invest in more staff to make sure they can be up to date with those regulations, and it actually creates a competitive advantage for those big banks versus small banks.

It is crucial that we support small banks. One example of small banks that could've been negatively impacted through these changes is the Bendigo community banks. Bendigo Bank plays a huge role in my community. We've got the community banks of Mount Evelyn, Belgrave, Upwey, Monbulk and district, Mooroolbark, Healesville, Woori Yallock and district, Wandin-Seville, Warburton and Yarra Junction district. All of these banks work in partnership with Bendigo Bank, but it's really important to understand they're community led; it's not just in their name. They are led by volunteer boards. I want to thank all the volunteers that give up so much of their time to make sure that the banks are run well and are profitable. They turn up at many community events. I'm lucky enough to spend a lot of time at community events with the volunteer boards from the banks.

One of the other crucial roles that a Bendigo Bank plays is giving back to our community. They have given back, over the last 20 years, tens of millions of dollars to sporting clubs, community groups, charities—to those in need. I know, when the Mount Evelyn Football Netball Club were lucky enough to get their rooms redeveloped, it was a partnership between the state and federal government and the local councils. Significant funds from the Mount Evelyn community bank went into making sure the fit-out could be properly done to make sure they had a quality facility, particularly as the growth came through in their women's programs.

Without community banks, our community wouldn't be as strong as it is. That's why we need to get regulation like this right. We have to ensure that they can remain profitable and we have to ensure that they're serving the community. The other thing a community bank will do, which we have not seen other bigger banks do, is make sure they have a footprint in the community through infrastructure—through a physical bank—which ensures those Australians that aren't tech savvy or are concerned about scams can walk into the bank, have a conversation, make sure all of their data is being protected and deal with their transactions as they need to.

At the same time that my office was receiving complaint after complaint about the big four banks leaving our community, I stood with pride at the Community Bank Mount Evelyn as we opened their new shopfront, just two weeks ago.

It was an investment in funds in our community to make it more open and more engaging, but it was also a signal to the Mount Evelyn community that the Bendigo Bank is there to stay. Every Bendigo Bank across my community, in the Upper Yarra and the Dandenong Ranges—all those banks I mentioned—has a physical location so people can walk in, have a conversation and get the answers they need to their questions. Yes, there is a cost in that. But they see that cost not as something to wash away but as a benefit to the community. That's what they stand there to do. Every time APRA or the government look to make regulation and laws, they need to make sure they get that balance right and allow our smaller community banks to continue to flourish and drive competition in the sector.

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