The Hon. Matthew Canavan, Senator for Queensland and Chair of the Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committee; The Hon. Gerard Rennick, Senator for Queensland; The Hon. Richard Colbeck, Senator for Tasmania; The Hon. Slade Brockman, Senator for Western Australia, Joint Media Release, 7 March 2024
Following the announcement of the closure of all Bankwest branches, the Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committee have invited Bankwest to appear at hearings in the Pilbara next Wednesday, 13 March 2024.
Senators Matthew Canavan, Gerard Rennick, Richard Colbeck and Slade Brockman have expressed their disappointment in the closure of Bankwest’s 45 branches despite commitments to not close branches during the ongoing Senate Inquiry into Regional Bank Closures.
Bankwest and the Commonwealth Bank have confirmed that all staff will be offered alternate employment options and 15 Bankwest branches will convert to Commonwealth Bank Branches.
Chair of the Regional and Rural Affairs and Transport Committee, Senator Matthew Canavan, said while he was disappointed in the decision, he acknowledged efforts from the Commonwealth Bank to try and not leave towns without a bank.
“These closures will impact all the communities that they operate in, reducing banking choice and the ability to get an essential service,” Senator Canavan said.
“Even though all staff are being offered alternate career opportunities these could still see job losses as a result of requirements to move or take on substantially different roles to what they were working in previously.
“Our regional communities already struggle with employment opportunities, and removing the jobs that these branches provide impacts smaller communities so much more than metropolitan centres.
“It’s quite clear that as a country we need to rethink the government’s approach to policy to protect regional banking services and ensure that it’s available to our communities.”
Bankwest has stated that there’s still banking options available at Australia Post outlets, but there are often vital banking services that cannot be conducted at these locations and further development of the Bank@Post model is needed.
“The continuing closure of branches by the major banks shows why a public bank is needed to ensure that banking services are available to all Australians regardless of their circumstances,” Senator Rennick said.
“Banking is an essential service and it is the role of government to ensure that every Australian can access essential services.”
The announcement from Bankwest comes just two months before the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee is due to report back to the Senate on their inquiry into Bank closures in regional Australia.
“Ironically, Bankwest was once the Rural and Industries Bank, and it is rural and regional Australia that is bearing the brunt of bank closures,” Senator Brockman said.
“Every week in our hearings we hear from local communities how important these essential services are and how their communities are effected, yet those who are given a license to provide those services, the so-called service sector, continuously ignore those pleas and withdraw services – it is as though their ears were painted on,” Senator Colbeck said.
The Senate Inquiry into regional banking closures was first referred for inquiry in February 2023 and is due to report to the Senate on 16 May this year.
