Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have a real grievance with bank closures. I'll give credit where credit's due. I received a letter yesterday from the regional general manager of the customer service network at the Commonwealth Bank, Norm Swift. He wrote to me advising that following consideration of a request, from the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, for them to pause regional branch closures until the end of 2023 they have agreed to do so. This includes postponement of the current closure at Junee.

It's probably just as well that I'm doing this grievance and that Maisie Robinson, 88, is not, because she would probably choose her words less carefully than perhaps I am. She's pretty annoyed—she's hot under the collar! She has been a member of the Commonwealth branch at Junee for 80 years and she has been told to change her banking habits and practices. When you've been a member of a branch for 80 years, and you've given them your money, your loyalty and your commitment, and they just shut the door in your face, it's not good enough.

So well done to CBA for postponing this closure. I hope that 'postponing' isn't the word; 'cancelling' should be the word. They absolutely need to give that permanency to Junee and they need to make a commitment to regional Australia. They've done very, very well out of regional Australia, particularly out of Junee. It's a railway town, it's a jail town and it's a vibrant agricultural town. It has a lot of things happening for it. The fact that they have pulled out of Junee—or, are intending to pull out of Junee—is simply not good enough for a town with a population of 6½ thousand people. And it would leave Junee without a bank.

It's time that the Commonwealth Bank realised that their customers have been loyal—in Maisie's case, for 80 years—and that they need to rethink this really hard. The mayor there, Neil Smith, is not going to take it and nor is the general manager of the shire, James Davis. And nor am I. Rest assured that Maisie and the rest of the Junee community feel let down, and they will air their grievances long and loud.