Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Bendigo Bank has a proud history of innovation. It was the first financial institution to introduce Visa into Australia, it pioneered the now universal mortgage offset account and in 1998 it devised and launched the community bank concept to assist communities looking to secure long-term branch banking services. The bank has an interesting history. It was first started in the Bendigo goldfields many years ago, and there are now 337 branches right across Australia. The community bank concept is about so much more than simply providing certainty that banking services will be available locally. The community bank model guarantees that a portion of the profits remain locally, and in our case, at Varsity Lakes and at Tugun in my electorate, those funds remain in the community to help community projects and are not returned to a head office somewhere else far away in Australia. Of the 74 Bendigo Bank branches in Queensland, 26 of them are community banks. Those community banks have more than $700 million worth of banking business, they have more than 55,000 accounts, they have contributed more than $50,000 to community projects and organisations and they have paid more than $96,000 in dividends to shareholders. So when locals bring their banking to the Varsity Lakes community bank they are directly supporting their own community.

The profits generated will be available for distribution as grants to community projects and as dividends to shareholders and for reinvestment in banking services. Those are three very important areas, particularly in new communities—and Varsity Lakes is a new community. Families and businesses are moving into the area, and we do not have one of the big banks providing a service. An example of the success of community banks can be seen at Paradise Point on the Gold Coast and, as I said, at Tugun. Since opening in 2001, the Paradise Point branch has contributed almost $30,000 to community based projects.

Our Varsity Lakes steering committee for the Bendigo Bank was officially launched in July last year. It was a community launch with a concert under the stars, and more than a thousand people attended that evening. We had great support from the community. We were able to put together a very good steering committee composed of residents and business operators in the area. I put my hand up and became part of that steering committee. We had a great sausage sizzle that night, a lot of singing and a lot of commitment from the community about getting underway the business of building a community bank in Varsity Lakes.

A community awareness program has continued ever since. We are looking for pledges from the community that people will bring their banking to the community bank to ensure that it can open and operate successfully into the future. Since the campaign for pledges was launched, we have received around $2,000 a day in pledges—they are coming from both local residents and our business community—and a lot of people are buying shares. I would encourage anyone in this House who has a shortage of banking facilities in their own communities to look at what the Bendigo Bank community banks can do in your local area. It is about encouraging locals to buy the shares—and they do receive dividends back—but it is also about helping your community with local projects. Individuals can buy as few as 500 shares for a dollar each. They will receive really good dividends back on those shares in time and, as I said, their local communities will receive funding for local projects.

We have already installed an ATM machine in Market Square in the Varsity Lakes area, and the local businesses and community are using it, which is indicative of the support that we have got from the local community. We have opened the door and launched the premises. They are not fitted out yet because the bank has not officially been opened, but we have the sign on the window and people know that the bank is coming. They are able to use the ATM at the moment, which is giving them banking facilities close to their homes and their businesses without their having to travel out of the area. I commend all those involved in our Bendigo Bank community bank project for the assistance and information they have given us in the local community. (Time expired)