Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Minister for Decentralisation and Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The big banks like to advertise what good friends they are to everyday people, but the sad reality is that these words are not always backed up by deeds and actions. That is why today I rise to express the outrage of the citizens of Molong and Blayney about the decision of the Commonwealth Bank to close local branches in those towns. The decision by the Commonwealth Bank also includes the ATM services which are located on those sites in Molong and Blayney.

These banks have been built upon the loyalty of customers, in particular regional customers who, in many cases, have been banking with the Commonwealth and the other big banks for generations. These branches provide essential services to our regional businesses, farmers and also our elderly, vulnerable people who can't easily access the digital alternatives that are being offered. Under the cloak of COVID-19, the banks have closed, or plan to close, almost 300 branches since the pandemic began, many of them in regional areas. These are thriving regional communities, and they are still profit centres for the banks. Last year, there was a net gain of 43,000 people from the cities to the regions. The year before, the net gain was 19,000. People are moving from the cities to the regions in numbers that we have never seen before—even greater numbers than in the days of the gold rush. There is no reason to close these branches other than to line the pockets of shareholders and bank executives.

There is widespread outrage on the ground in Molong and Blayney about these closures. Local citizens Aaron Pearson and Michelle Fogarty have been gathering hundreds of signatures on petitions, which have been forwarded to the Commonwealth Bank. The Mayor of Cabonne, Kevin Beatty, and the Mayor of Blayney, Scott Ferguson have been working tirelessly to find a way to keep these branches open. Local advocates such as Councillor Peter Batten and Molong advocate Marj Bollinger have been very vocal in expressing their concern and outrage about these decisions. We had a meeting with the Commonwealth Bank CEO and also senior executives recently, and their answer was to put information officers in Molong and Blayney, presumably to tell people that the banks and the branches have closed.

This is happening tomorrow. It's not good enough from the Commonwealth Bank, and there is an increasing case for minimum service requirements to be placed on these big banks so that they stop betraying country communities and loyal country customers. This is an outrage, and I would like that outrage registered in this parliament today.