The proposed closure of the Bank SA branch in Kingston will have a devastating impact on the township, its neighbouring communities, and businesses that rely on rural banking.

This was the sentiment echoed by almost every member of the public who attended the committee consultation on the future of Bank SA organised by the Kingston District Council on Wednesday.

Council CEO Nat Traeger told The [Naracoorte Community] News there was overwhelming support from the public for a ‘business as usual’ approach, for the bank to remain open and provide the level of service it currently does.

“There were 80 people in attendance, including Tony Pasin MP and Nick McBride MP. Prior to the meeting, we had already received 32 written submissions through our website, mainly from those who couldn’t attend the meeting,” Ms Traeger said.

The meeting, she said, was conducted in a workshop style, with people asking a series of questions that related to the information being sought through the Senate inquiry.

“The attendees wrote their responses on individual post-it notes, and these were collated to determine key themes (impacts and concerns should the Bank of SA branch shut).

“Attendees then had the opportunity, using red dots, to ‘vote’ as to which key themes impacted them the most, so as to determine the priority level for our community, of each key area.

There was an open-mic session at the end, with some attendees choosing to voice their concerns that way.”

Ms Traeger said critical issues raised during the meeting included access to cash either from the branch or ATM, face-to-face services for product support, the loss of jobs and families moving away, connectivity issues – with the ageing and vulnerable not always able to access or know how to use technology – and having the hassle of travelling to another town to receive services from their banks.

The CEO highlighted that the community submissions were very valuable, and the council will act upon them through how they are worded before making its submission.

“I encourage all impacted or concerned community members to also make a submission. It can be a one-liner, one paragraph, or prepare an essay.”

The public has been urged to email their submissions to the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport, which have commissioned an inquiry on the closure of banks in regional Australia.

All submissions must be emailed to seniorclerk.committees.sen@aph.gov.au by March 31, 2023.

This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.