Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Business councils and individuals throughout Australia, particularly regional Australia, including the Riverina and central west, have inundated the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee's inquiry into bank closures across our rural areas. The inquiry has received more than 550 written submissions and last week held public hearings in Queensland. I commend Senator Matt Canavan for the work that he has done with this inquiry, as well as Senator Perin Davey for her work in putting up the task force into regional banking to begin with. This is what the Mayor of Junee, Councillor Neil Smith, said in his submission:

The banks make millions of dollars in profits. The total shareholder focus at the expense of our rural and regional areas is wrong on so many levels. Even if a branch is not particularly profitable, they should be cross subsidising them.

The banks have given many different reasons for closing rural and regional branches, but one from the ANZ bank recently just takes the cake. The ANZ, which has closed a number of branches in my electorate over recent years, including in the thriving centres of Parkes, Temora and Forbes, has in its 2021-22 financial year boasted of continuing its emissions reductions due to, among other things, 'property consolidation'. That's code, I believe, for branch closures. What an absolute insult. In the Climate activepublic disclosure statement by the ANZ bank, under a heading 'Emissions reduction actions', it says—and this is disgusting, this is disgraceful:

Emissions reductions continued in 2022 due to property consolidation and ongoing flexible working arrangements for our non-branch staff.

'Property consolidation'! Go figure. What a disgrace those banks are. They make huge profits out of farmers, out of mining production, out of Mr and Mrs Average in regional Australia, and then they put in their financial documents the fact that they are—

This is regional banking. You're a minister. You should be just as disgusted as I am about regional banks closing, and their customers.

What have I done? We did a lot, thank you, Minister. Fair dinkum! We've got a bank here using woke excuses, and you're defending them. You're defending branch closures. You wouldn't know regional Australia—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, please!

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I didn't interrupt you when you were making your statement, and you shouldn't interrupt me. So just leave the chamber, as you are—just running off. Typical. This is a disgrace. The ANZ bank should absolutely explain why their woke procedures are closing banks in my region. Disgraceful.