Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

In respect of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee report Bank closures in regional Australia: Protecting the future of regional banking, I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

This was a really important inquiry initiated by Senator Rennick and me and very ably chaired by Senator Canavan, with the support of Senator Colbeck. This is a key issue. We see country towns under an extraordinary amount of pressure. We see regional communities losing access to things that people in the city take for granted. One of those is banking services. We heard so many stories during the inquiry of the almost contemptuous way in which banks treated regional communities. The first they heard of a closure was a note taped on the door of the local bank. When they tried to engage with those banks, they could get nowhere. There was no appeals process. There was no chance to say, 'We'll use the service more; we'll bank here more.' There was no chance to negotiate the presence of an ATM. There was no chance to continue having those high-quality jobs in that community through the banking services.

This inquiry was a chance to shine light on the plight of those regional communities. We went to the Shire of Ashburton in the north of Western Australia—a shire that exports 1.6 per cent of Australia's entire GDP without one bank in the local government area. This is not acceptable in a modern society. There are solutions. One that I am particularly attracted to is making the Bank@Post system more efficient and work better. Bank@Post, through Australia Post outlets, is in many of these communities. In fact, it provides essential services in these communities. If we can improve that system to ensure that those Bank@Post outlets are remunerated fairly and that the services they offer are consistent across all financial institutions, then we can make that system work for regional communities. This is a challenge for us all, but we have to stand up for regional Australia. They cannot be the second-class citizens of this country. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.