Tom Parry
IT was a display of bravado and solidarity rarely seen inside or outside of the Canberra Bubble.
Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester was joined by five Senate colleagues of various ideologies on March 2 to publicly criticise the conduct of Australia’s banking sector.
Their comments came during a joint press conference in the Port of Sale building, between sessions at a public hearing into Bank Closures in Regional Australia.
Flanked by One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts, Labor’s Raff Ciccone, the Liberals’ Richard Colbeck, and Queensland LNP’s Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick, Mr Chester was first to address the media, and didn’t hold back in his criticisms.
“My advice to the banks is to stop being so bloody-minded, stop being so bloody lazy and actually start listening to customers and work with us on innovative solutions to deliver services into the future,” he told the press pack.
“There is a very significant number of customers – whether they be small business and family business owners, or whether they’re more vulnerable customers or people who don’t trust online services, or people who simply don’t have access to online services… who demand, who need face-to-face services, and have every right to expect that from the Big Four banks.
Mr Chester also remarked that the Big Four banks – Westpac, NAB, the Commonwealth and ANZ – had been “getting away with murder” when it comes to bank branch closures.
“If they’re not prepared to co-operate, then the federal parliament needs to look at longer term solutions in terms of licencing requirements.”
The inquiry’s chair, Senator Canavan, was next to speak, reflecting on the morning’s testimonies from banking executives and local government figures.
“It has been very clear this morning, that the big banks are trying to sell Sale a bunch a spin, and then trying to sell us a complete load of rubbish; and they tell the local community, they tell politicians that they do consult with them before these decisions,” Senator Canavan said.
“But what we have… revealed today is that that consultation amounts to an email or, if people are lucky, a phone call after the decision has been made.
“I’m glad that this committee has actually forced Westpac and National Australia Bank to come out to a country town for a change, because we also learnt today that the first time Westpac officials have spoken to local government (officials) was this morning, and only because they were really here for the Senate committee.”
Senator Canavan added that his hope was that the inquiry would force proper communication between the banks and local government.
“We can’t have a situation that consultation only occurs when a bunch of Senators turn up in town,” he said.
Photo: File
Senator Rennick spoke after, accusing the banks of short-changing regional areas.
“What we’ve learnt today is the banks still make a lot of money out here in the regions,” Senator Rennick said.
“They’re making increased margins as a result of more efficient transactional banking, but they’re not prepared to share those profits with the people in the regions – they want to take those profits back to the big cities and pay themselves bigger salaries, and that’s not fair to the people of rural and regional Australia, which is where most of the wealth comes from.”
Then came Senator Roberts, who accused the banks of lacking responsibility and accountability.
“I’m normally opposed to interfering in commercial operations; but in this case, we need a community service obligations legislation, because the banks are being propped-up by the communities, by the tax payers of this country,” he said.
Senator Colbeck also made brief remarks, reiterating his comments made during the hearing.
“It’s become very apparent, very quickly this morning that what the banks call ‘consultation’ is basically talking to themselves,” Senator Colbeck said.
“They don’t really understand the impact on regional communities of their closures, and that regional communities want to see local, face-to-face services for their own local communities and businesses.
“There is still a requirement and a desire in local communities to have and receive face-to-face local services, and I think the banks need to take that into account – they need to listen to the communities that are providing us evidence through this inquiry… and make sure that they’re actually providing a service that they claim they want to provide.”
Questions were then taken from the press pack, with Senator Canavan using the opportunity to say the Sale branch “must stay open”.
“I’ve only spent some limited time here (in Sale), but it’s a thriving town, and a town of 15,000 people deserves to have proper financial services from all the banks,” he said.
“Westpac clearly stuffed up in how they came to the decision to close.
“We welcome the fact they’ve paused that closure thanks to our inquiry; we now call on them to reverse the decision to close the Sale branch, because this is a great town, and… we should provide services to towns of this size across Australia.”
He went on to acknowledge that the Senate won’t be able to stop all branch closures from happening, owing to changes in population and technology.
“But what I’m committed to do through this committee is making sure we work for solutions for people… (to) at least keep an option for people for face-to-face services.”
Photo: File
Senator Canavan was then asked why it had taken so long for an inquiry to begin, prompting Senator Rennick to step forward with a response.
“We’ve actually had a number of inquiries into bank closures in the regions over the last 30 years, and despite that, we’ve seen bank branches go from 2700 (in number) to less than 1000 since 1975,” Senator Rennick said.
“And I think one thing… we need to seriously look at in this inquiry is making sure that the banks are held to account through legislation, because we’ve given them the benefit of the doubt, and quite frankly, they’ve taken advantage of the fact that we’ve trusted the market, but they really haven’t respected the rights and wishes of the people.”
Senator Ciccone, who had remained silent for much of the conference, was then prompted to speak after being asked whether he was alarmed by the number of branch closures in regional Victoria – the state he represents in Federal Parliament.
“Well it has,” he said in response, “and I think today is a clear demonstration of why this inquiry is needed…”
“The impact that a closure has here in Sale, or in other parts of Victoria, (is) much more devastating than in Melbourne.
“For us, it’s also about trying to ensure the banks do the right thing, when they do go down that path, that there is a genuine consultation – not the consultation that we were told today, where they’ll pick up the phone (and) call if someone is lucky enough to take their call one day before, but actually sit down with the community, and actually have a fair-dinkum conversation about why is it the bank is trying to shut down a branch.”
Finally, Mr Chester was asked whether he was confident that the Senate inquiry – of which he is not a part – would lead to positive outcomes, particularly for Gippsland.
“Past history wouldn’t fill me with confidence,” he remarked, noting that “generations” of parliamentarians had failed in holding the banks to account.
But he added that he was “an optimist by nature”, saying: “I hold out a lot of hope for this inquiry because it’s coming, I think, at a different time, and in a different atmosphere in the political circles, if you like, which have brought together members of Parliament from all sides of the political divide, and they’re passionate about getting a better deal for the customers of the Big Four banks in particular.”
It was a most peculiar and bemusing event at the Port of Sale – and not just because of the bluntness with which the politicians spoke.
The sight of a solitary Labor senator standing alongside his Coalition counterparts is a rare occurrence, likewise hearing Mr Chester and Senator Canavan compliment each other – barely a year ago, the two MPs from rival factions were publicly sparring over the Nationals’ ideological stance.
As Senator Colbeck remarked, “That’s one thing the banks do: they unite us all.”
