Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

ANZ recently announced a statutory profit after tax for the year ended 30 September 2019 of $5.95 billion. Last Thursday ANZ announced that they're closing the Yankalilla branch in May. This is the third ANZ branch to close in Mayo in recent years. Goolwa and Lobethal have closed, prompting the northern Adelaide Hills community to try to establish a community bank. For Yankalilla the next closest branch is Victor Harbor, some 33 kilometres away—and there's no public transport to get there. Every time I've dropped into the ANZ at Yankalilla, customers have been waiting. They deserve a branch, not an app. ANZ aren't closing King William Street or Rundle Mall, which are walking distance from each other; they're closing regional branches, because they see regional branches as fair game.

Many in the Yankalilla community do not want to bank online, and nor should they have to. Many can no longer drive. Our regions deserve the same services that are available in metropolitan areas in education, health, transport and banking. We may not have the large populations, but we feed the economy and we make sure that the rest of Australia has food to eat. ANZ—and, in fact, all of our major banks—are abandoning our regional communities. It's shameful to put profits ahead of people—our regional customers. I urge the ANZ to reconsider this position. Yankalilla deserves better.