Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I informed the House that Westpac had reached out to my office and informed us that the last Westpac branch in my electorate—Gatton, in the Lockyer Valley—was going to be closing. It's a bizarre decision given the bullish economic outlook in the region, given we've just seen a new Bunnings put up, a new Aldi put up, a second McDonald's constructed and the construction of a new Catholic high school. We asked them to reconsider. On Tuesday Westpac confirmed with my office that it would be keeping the branch open indefinitely. An extract from the correspondence from Westpac to our office said: 'This decision follows discussions with our customers and our community leaders, such as yourself, and we hope that the decision gives your community certainty.' It certainly does.

On behalf of my mayor, Tanya Milligan, and the state member, Jimmy McDonald, I'd like to acknowledge and thank, collectively, the CEO of Westpac, Peter King, for reconsidering what is a very comprehensive argument for the branch remaining open, and Richard Shields, the government relations officer, who stayed close to us. Good news on that hand, but, on the other hand, the National Australia Bank has flagged closures of branches. In my electorate, the community of Boonah will be affected. The same economic bullish outlook presides for them. We would ask National Australia Bank to reconsider their bizarre position as well.