John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge a wonderful asset in my community of Bennelong. A few weeks ago Community Bank Epping, which is a full-service branch of Bendigo Bank, held the official grand opening of its brand new branch office in Pembroke Street, Epping. For those who may not be aware of the community bank model, the bank's core mission is to support the growth and strength of the local community using profits from its banking services. The Community Bank Epping puts 80 per cent of its profits back into community projects and groups.

In recent years, money has been put towards a vast number of projects, including the Northern Centre's Parenting Program, the Macquarie Singers and the Epping District Athletics Club. The bank has also partnered with numerous organisations such as Rotary, the Christian Community Aid Service and the Lions Club of Epping-Eastwood to support their work. It's wonderful to see the bank listening and responding to the needs of our local community. They are an extremely important asset, and I've been continually impressed by the scale of their impact. I was unfortunately unable to attend their grand opening, but I'm looking forward to seeing their new office and catching up with the branch manager, Mr Stephen Hu, in the not-too-distant future.