Thursday, February 13, 2025

Buloke Times editorial: Banking closures

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The situation about bank closures is clouded.

Over a year ago, the [Buloke] “Times” published its last editorial on rural banking. At that time, a study was to be made by a Rural Banking Taskforce, giving the final result in April 2022.

As to the Buloke shire, it was reported that the Charlton and Donald towns had a Bendigo Community Bank, while Donald had a CBA branch, whereas Birchip had a Westpac agency and Wycheproof a Bendigo agency.

Meanwhile, the Treasurer of the new federal government has called on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics to hold an inquiry into the four major banks, to examine how the banks are balancing the interests of their diverse set of stakeholders, including borrowers, depositors, shareholders, and the wider community.

Since 1975, two thirds of regional Australia’s big four banks have been closed, and 964 remained as at February 2023.  Since the Taskforce investigation produced its pre-election final report on September 20, 2022, more than 80 regional banks have closed or have closure notices issued.

The member for Gippsland, Mr Chester, a former minister, called out the Australian Banking Association (ABA) for hypocrisy.  (The ABA has as CEO the former Labor Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh.)  He said the big banks were showing contempt towards customers, particularly those in regional Australia.  The report of the Taskforce had identified the disproportionate effect branch closures had on vulnerable Australians: the elderly, low-income earners, indigenous, and people with poor digital literacy.  All those people strongly prefer face-to-face transactions and bank services, he stated.

The government has asked Australia’s banks to hold off on any planned bank closures until the Senate committee investigating the issue has reported back at the end of the year.  The reference is to the first inquiry into regional bank closures in 19 years.  The new inquiry will look at the economic and welfare impacts of branch closures, the process banks are following to close branches, and reasons being given.  This inquiry will be conducted by the Rural & Regional Affairs & Transport References Committee, and is to report by December 2023.

Senator Rennick (LNP, Queensland) added that, for rural areas with high levels of unemployment and an elderly population with a reduced capacity to travel, financial and time costs borne by customers are significant.  In particular, he expressed concern about the impact of closing regional branches would have on local businesses and their ability to deposit cash.

The Australian Citizens Party has urged all Australians who are affected by ANZ branches going cashless to voice their objections in submissions to the inquiry.  The party’s research director has put his own oar in: “The major banks are the only commercial businesses for which the customer is not always right.”

Apart from general comments, we have not heard complaints about these specific items in the Buloke Shire.  It may be that businesses and other customers here are well served, but perhaps not.

It will be interesting to see what findings the Senate committee makes. According to the latest news, there has already been an extension of time for submissions, which are now due by April 28, 2023.

The Buloke Times 21 April 2023

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 21 April 2023.

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