Access to cash, and branch banking should be a civil right, safeguarded by Parliament. Its essential for a vibrant society and for business growth in Australia.
Dale Webster from The Regional And Robbie Barwick from the Citizens Party discuss the war on cash with me , and specifically the removal of branch and cash infrastructure, especially in regional areas.
The Regional is an independent news service for 37 per cent of Australia’s population (and growing)!
Dale has been tracking regional bank closures, despite the amount of cash still in use (and rising). Banks are casting a dangerous shadow.
But now there is a Petition EN4244 – Moratorium on regional bank closures and new inquiry in front of Parliament, and we have about 10 days to send a formal message to the Australian Parliament Petition. It closes on 6th October 2022.
Private research shows regional Australia has lost 62 per cent of its banks since 1975, leaving just 1062 located mainly in clusters in larger centres. The number of towns and cities with a bank has shrunk from 1226 to 386: 575 towns that once had one or more major banks now have no form of bank at all. Another 146 towns are on the brink of complete loss of banking services, with just one major bank open. Last year, regional Australia lost 113 “big four” bank branches. Locations included 45 towns that were stripped of their last/only bank. Of these, 23 did not have a minor corporate, mutual or franchise bank to fall back on. If a similar 10 per cent cut to the branch network is made this year, 100 more branches will be lost in the next seven months: 50 towns will lose their last bank. This issue has not been looked at properly for 17 years. The Morrison Government set up a “taskforce into regional banking” as a pre-election stunt but only put representatives of the banking industry and its own politicians on it. Just one public meeting was held. Findings have not yet been delivered.
Petition Request
We therefore ask the House to impose an immediate moratorium on regional bank closures, launch a new inquiry to pick up from where Money too Far Away (1999) and Money Matters in the Bush (2004) left matters and pulp any reports that come from the coalition’s taskforce.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Digital Finance Analytics (DFA) Blog
The Banks Are The Aggressors In The War On Cash! [Podcast]
Dale Webster from The Regional And Robbie Barwick from the Citizens Party discuss the war on cash with me , and specifically the removal of branch and cash infrastructure, especially in regional areas.
The Regional is an independent news service for 37 per cent of Australia’s population (and growing)!
Dale has been tracking regional bank closures, despite the amount of cash still in use (and rising). Banks are casting a dangerous shadow.
But now there is a Petition EN4244 – Moratorium on regional bank closures and new inquiry in front of Parliament, and we have about 10 days to send a formal message to the Australian Parliament Petition. It closes on 6th October 2022.
Private research shows regional Australia has lost 62 per cent of its banks since 1975, leaving just 1062 located mainly in clusters in larger centres. The number of towns and cities with a bank has shrunk from 1226 to 386: 575 towns that once had one or more major banks now have no form of bank at all. Another 146 towns are on the brink of complete loss of banking services, with just one major bank open. Last year, regional Australia lost 113 “big four” bank branches. Locations included 45 towns that were stripped of their last/only bank. Of these, 23 did not have a minor corporate, mutual or franchise bank to fall back on. If a similar 10 per cent cut to the branch network is made this year, 100 more branches will be lost in the next seven months: 50 towns will lose their last bank. This issue has not been looked at properly for 17 years. The Morrison Government set up a “taskforce into regional banking” as a pre-election stunt but only put representatives of the banking industry and its own politicians on it. Just one public meeting was held. Findings have not yet been delivered.
Petition Request
We therefore ask the House to impose an immediate moratorium on regional bank closures, launch a new inquiry to pick up from where Money too Far Away (1999) and Money Matters in the Bush (2004) left matters and pulp any reports that come from the coalition’s taskforce.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
The use and availability of cash, and other banking services – especially in Regional Australia is a critical issue, and one which needs to be on the table in the current political campaigning. We know that banks have been withdrawing their services and closing branches, and that this can spell terminal decline for the surrounding area.
So the question is, how to address the decline and give local economies a boost? I am joined by Alexis Garnaut-Miller the Citizens Party Candidate for Cunningham (NSW) and Robbie Barwick Citizens Party Candidate for Victoria.
We discussed the cash ban, the need for a National Bank, and how this can be established via the Post Office Network. And we highlighted the questions to ask the candidates to test out if they understand the importance of the issue and whether they have an established policy.
We also mentioned The Regional, Dale Websters excellent work in tracking the disgusting removal of bank branches. Visit her site too! https://www.theregional.com.au/
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand says its latest survey underscores the need for deliberate changes to the cash system to keep it resilient and efficient while needed and wanted by New Zealanders.
The latest edition of our finance and property news digest with a distinctively Australian flavour.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
An update on a case study describing how one of our big banks withdrew banking facilities from a business, and surrounding personal accounts, which demonstrate that the broad terms and conditions in the industry are unfair and their conduct un-Australian.
Robbie Barwick from the Citizens Party and I discuss the removal of the Cash Transaction Ban Bill from the order paper and the victory for the people this represents!
Kudos to the many thousands of people who made their views known!
