Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I'm astounded that those opposite don't want to hear what we're doing to make sure that people who live in regional communities can have access to banking services and to make sure that their needs are being met, particularly after the hundreds and hundreds of bank closures that those opposite oversaw when they were in government. Perhaps what Senator Cash referred to earlier, about having to sit on their hands, is really summing up the former government. They did sit on their hands a lot. That's why we've inherited a lot of challenges and problems that we've been methodically working through as the Albanese Labor government.

We believe that banks have a responsibility to regional communities, and we're holding them to it. I acknowledge the work of Minister Rowland, the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer in all of the discussions that they've had with the banks and with Australia Post to make sure that Bank@Post is able, resourced and supported to do the job where those banking services have been withdrawn. We acknowledge that those communities, like the ones that you represent, Senator Urquhart, on the north-west coast of Tasmania, play a critical role in Australia's economy, and we are standing up for them to make sure that they continue to access the banking services they need.

Opposition senators interjecting—

There's a lot of shouting from those opposite. I would have thought they would have welcomed the moratorium on the closing of banks. I thought they would have welcomed the agreement to have that trusted Australia Post delivering services to make sure that people get them close to where they live, but no. Sitting on their hands alright—that's all they did. (Time expired)