Mr GIBBONS (5:46 PM) —In this grievance debate I want to talk about the shoddy treatment Australians receive from the major banks. Supposedly in the quest for efficiencies and cost savings, but in reality in the push for bigger and bigger profits, the major banks turn their backs on the very customers whose loyalty has helped to build the strong banking sector we see today. We see in the media almost daily that Australian banks have announced further branch closures while recording gigantic profits. In the financial year ending June 1999 the ANZ Banking Group declared a profit of $1.48 billion, the Commonwealth Bank $1.42 billion, Westpac $1.46 billion and the National Australia Bank $2.821 billion. That is a combined total profit of $7.2 billion. These figures prove that the banking sector is secure and is able to show enormous profits even in what it claims are difficult times.

What is not secure is the loyalty and commitment of the banks to the people of Australia. In spite of these fabulous profit levels, the major banks are turning their backs on their customers—and in particular rural communities—by closing branches and walking away, in some cases leaving a trail of devastation. There is one thing that small country towns can always bank on—the threat of being turned into a town with no bank, and a town with no bank is often a town with no future. Many smaller communities that lose their bank branches wither and die because people from surrounding districts have to go elsewhere for banking services and almost always undertake their household shopping purchases in the same larger areas that still have bank branches. So all the other small businesses contract and the general community suffers a major reduction in living standards, all because the major banks decide to turn their backs on people who live in country and remote areas. Australia's bigger banks do not understand the term `good corporate citizens' and would rate at the bottom of the list.

In June 1993 there were 7,064 bank branches operating throughout Australia. In June 1999 there were 5,358. That is a reduction of 1,706 branches. This means that one in four bank branches throughout Australia have closed during that period. That is, 284 banks closed per year—on average, one for every working day of every week of every year. More than one-third of these branches were in small country towns—that is, one country bank branch closed every three days. Some country towns saw as many as four or five bank branches disappear completely. The job losses in banking have been just as phenomenal. Some 40,000 jobs have been shed in the 10 years since 1990, according to Bankwatch.

Bank branch closures cause severe hardship to customers irrespective of whether they reside in our capital cities or in regional or rural communities. The decision to close bank branches impacts particularly on our elderly and those who are disadvantaged by being disabled, unemployed or part of the ever increasing number of working poor. Some farmers and small business owners can also be described as `working poor'. They struggle to survive whilst living in poverty. It is these groups that are most disadvantaged by bank closures. Bank closures are part of the assault by economic rationalism and coalition governments on country Australia. They have gone hand in hand with the closure of country schools, hospitals, railway lines and vital state and federal public services. Each closure has pulled out vital services, jobs and pay packets and slashed at the viability of our small country towns. The assault continues with the coalition's plan to sell off the remainder of Telstra.

There is one bank that is addressing this problem, and every effectively. Which bank?—I hear somebody ask. The Bendigo Bank, of course. Bendigo Bank is Australia's only regionally based bank. Formed in 1858 as a building society, it converted to bank status in 1995, at which time it was Australia's oldest and Victoria's largest building society. Bendigo has declared a profit in each year of operation, even during the depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s. Bendigo Bank is a publicly listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange and is owned by more than 22,000 predominantly individual shareholders. It has total assets of more than $4.5 billion—total funds under management exceed $5 billion—and market capitalisation of more than $400 million. The company operates more than 100 branches and employs more than 1,000 staff.

Bendigo is a supplier of diverse financial and allied products with a strong customer service focus. Bank and subsidiary services include retail banking, commercial banking and finance, funds management, insurance, superannuation, trustee services and foreign exchange. The focus is on consumer markets and small to medium sized businesses. The group's operations are focused on Victoria. It operates branches and public agencies throughout Victoria and southern New South Wales, with outlets in each of Australia's mainland state capital cities. Business is also sourced through mobile banks and a network of referral agencies.

In January 1999, Bendigo Bank and Elders Australia began a joint venture company to deliver banking services to primary producers throughout rural Australia. The company marries Bendigo's banking expertise with Elders's distribution outlet of some 280 branches Australia-wide. In March 1999, the bank announced a joint venture with IOOF—Bendigo Investment Services—to deliver funds management and advisory services through the bank's branch network. As part of these alliances, both Elders and IOOF acquired substantial shareholdings in Bendigo Bank. Both companies now hold around six per cent of the bank's stock. In April 2000, the bank announced an alliance with Tasmanian Trustees to form a joint venture company to provide retail banking services throughout Tasmania.

In the same month, the bank announced an alliance with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia with a long-term aim to provide retail banking at pharmacies in communities not served by bank branches. In May 2000, the bank launched Australia's first ethical bank deposit fund with Ethical Investment Trust. This fund will benefit the work of Community Aid Abroad. In 1998, the bank devised and launched the innovative and exciting concept called Community Bank. This sees the Bendigo Bank partner local communities which operate franchised Bendigo Bank branches. Twenty-eight are currently open. A further 11 have been approved and are shortly to begin trading. The bank has received about 1,000 inquiries and expects between 50 and 60 Community Bank franchises to be in operation by the end of 2001. Local investors raise the start-up capital and become shareholders in their own banking venture. Bendigo Bank provides the banking infrastructure and coverage of its banking licence, and the community and the bank share the revenues. Shared responsibilities mean shared rewards. Profits made by the local company would be retained with the twin objectives of paying shareholders a reasonable return and reinvesting into local enterprise or community projects.

The first Bendigo Community Bank was established in the small Victorian communities of Rupanyup and Minyip. Mr Deputy Speaker Hawker, you would be well aware of those small towns. I want to quote from a paper by Bendigo Bank managing director Rob Hunt, which illustrates perfectly the difficulties that small towns are forced into when the big banks pull out and the advantages of community banking to these small communities. Mr Hunt said:

You can imagine the inconvenience this caused most of the local residents, not to mention small businesses. Mr Hunt continued:

The Bendigo Bank's community bank is breathing new life into small communities where the service has been established. Most of these are turning a profit—sometimes of around $10,000 per month—in just 12 to 18 months. Other small businesses in these depressed areas are starting to grow again as a direct result of the presence of a local Bendigo Bank franchise in the community. It is also good business for the Bendigo Bank. Equally important is the sense of pride in these communities that is generated by owning and profitably operating their own bank, whose profits are returned directly to those communities. If the Howard government demonstrated even a tenth of the innovation, commitment and understanding of rural and regional Australia shown by the Bendigo Bank and the communities who are benefiting by the Bendigo franchises, regional Australia would not be in the difficulties we are in today.

The Bendigo Bank is also involved in a number of innovative products and services like the Bendigo Stock Exchange, a regional development fund, Bendigo telco, and a range of other services, all of which are aimed at enhancing the business sector in regional Australia. I will have more to say on these ventures at another time. If honourable members would like more information on the Bendigo community banking concept, they should contact the Bendigo Bank's Community Bank Development Team on 1300 361 911 or visit the bank's web site at www.bendigobank.com.au. (Time expired)