Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tasmania's West Coast is reeling after Bendigo Bank Queenstown announced its branch closure. The entire region will be left without a single physical banking institution. We have already heard local MPs calling on Bendigo to reverse its decision, and that really annoys me because this isn't Bendigo's job to fix. We don't rely on the private sector to provide essential services to vulnerable people. We don't leave it to the market to give people basic education or life-saving health care. The private sector needs profit, and it's not always profitable to invest in small communities. The government does not have that same kind of profit pressure. So MPs waving their fists at Bendigo Bank really should be waving their fists at themselves, if that's anatomically possible. The message this sends is brutal. If you live outside Hobart or Launceston, lower your expectations. Don't expect a bank. Don't expect a reliable doctor. Don't expect equal access to education. When you complain, you'll be told to move to the city.

West Coasters aren't asking for the world; they want the same standards of access to essential services as their counterparts in Hobart or Launceston. They want to be able to see a doctor, access a bank or send their children to a good school that offers genuine opportunities. They're not greedy for wanting it; politicians are lazy for denying it to them. Banks sustain local economies. Every small business, every shop, every saver, everyone will have a harder time accessing cash if this goes ahead. To the West Coast I say you're not wrong to demand access to the services the rest of the state takes for granted. Managed decline is not inevitable. It is a deliberate political choice. Remember who is making it.