GRIEVANCE DEBATE
Mr SOON (Banks) (12:40): I rise today to speak about the shrinking access to services in our town centre—especially banking and post—in my community and, indeed, right across our country. Recently I was made aware that the Revesby post office had been scheduled for closure by Australia Post. This is extremely disappointing news for the community of Revesby, Revesby Heights and Picnic Point, as well as the broader area.
The Revesby post office is a key fixture in our local town centre. It's close to the major supermarkets and connected to all of the surrounding suburbs by multiple, regular public transport links, making it by far the most accessible Australia Post location in the area. Further, Revesby is a growing community.
A substantial development of new homes has been approved, quite literally across the road from the existing post office site. We need more services, not fewer, to cater for the growth in population in the area. As a reminder to the House, while Australia Post may be owned by the government, it was corporatised in 1989.
It is incredibly clear to me, and to the community that I represent, that Australia Post has made the wrong call in regard to Revesby post office. Both the closure of bank branches in surrounding suburbs and the centrality of the location, on Selems Parade in Revesby, has made this post office the go-to place for in-person banking through Bank@Post—a service that is so disproportionately used by older members of our community, who have less readily available alternatives, particularly for those not comfortable with online banking.
Understandably, this anxiety around using online services has been exacerbated by the proliferation of scams. Alongside the state member for East Hills, Kylie Wilkinson; Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek; and Revesby ward Councillor David Walsh, I am advocating for this decision to be reversed in the interest of local residents in and around Revesby. In September we launched a petition to demonstrate the strong community support for the retention of the post office at its current location in Revesby.
The community has backed it in significantly. As of this morning, 2,338 people have lent their support across Revesby, Revesby Heights, Panania, Picnic Point, East Hills and Padstow. We also got a fair bit of media attention, This includes an online news piece published the same week we went out to the community for input that hadn't been sought by Australia Post.
I look forward to continuing to have discussions with Australia Post about the future of the post office in Revesby, and how we can ensure that the community does not lose access to the services that remain much needed by so many. Indeed, I am not the only member of this place that has seen bank branch and post office closures in their electorate. It is, unfortunately, a common story for members across this House.
Like many members from greater Sydney, my colleague and electorate neighbour, the member for Barton, currently has a similarly important post office closing in Kingsgrove, and the withdrawal of services at the former Rockdale post office site is another example. While Australia Post has had a significant retreat in terms of the number of retail outlets, it is not the only example of retreat from services in our communities and town centres.
Similarly, bank branches have been withdrawn from local communities. While Revesby has been spared the worst of bank branch closures—losing the National Australia Bank location in 2022 and still maintaining the other three big banks—other suburbs in my electorate have not been so lucky. East Hills, for example—no bank branch.
Panania used to have four bank branches but, since the CBA closed in 2014, it has none. Padstow has no bank branches since the CBA closed the branch, after justifying the closure at Panania. Picnic Point—no bank branch.
Milperra—no bank branch. In Riverwood both the CBA and the National Australia Bank closed—again, no bank branch left. Narwee—no bank branch; Lugarno—no bank branch; Peakhurst—no bank branch; Beverly Hills—no bank branch.
In Oatley, CBA, St George and Bendigo Bank all closed—and, like the others, there is no bank branch left. In Penshurst, CBA closed a long time ago, and now it has no bank branch. Blakehurst, Connells Point and South Hurstville all have no bank branches.
Lastly, in Mortdale, Westpac closed, CBA remains, and, perhaps the strangest of all, it has an ANZ bank branch operating as a cashless bank branch. It is an unfortunate pattern of events that often bank branches close and offer the consolation that you can do your personal banking at the local post office. But, as the post office closed, there is no viable alternative for in-person banking services for many in our town centres and our high streets.
In the digital age, it is just so important to make sure people have options. As I mentioned before, scams are more common and complex than ever. It is so important, particularly for older Australians, to have an in-person service, where they can speak to another person within easy reach.
The retreat of these two services has derailed that significantly. This has a particular impact when the needs of the individuals are complex, and this is why in-person services are so important. The effects of these services closing have been well known for quite some time.
The Hawker inquiry into the level of banking and financial services in regional and rural communities in the late 1990s outlined issues quite clearly. Academics also weighed in at around the same time with studies into the effects on regional and rural communities. The Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport conducted an inquiry during the last term of parliament about this very same topic.
These studies found significant negative social impacts, including socioeconomic marginalisation and financial exclusion, in the bush. It was also noted that bank closures were devastating small businesses and local economies, with people travelling to larger regional centres to do their banking and doing their shopping while there instead of keeping money in their local communities.
Perhaps the most concerning though was that faith in the future of regional towns was dramatically weakened, according to this research. While these effects are particularly pronounced in regional communities, they can also be seen in metropolitan areas, like the one I serve in this House. Suburbs lose their bank branches and post offices, and a large subsection of consumers and community members go to large suburban centres to do their admin and take their business with them, harming the small businesses in the places they live, including in places like Revesby.
Research out of the United Kingdom against the background of legislation to protect access to basic banking services from only a few years ago indicated that the closure of bank branches was entirely eliminating access to cash and financial services in some communities. On the flip side, the Australian Banking Association claims that nearly 99 per cent of banking transactions are now taking place digitally, be that online or otherwise, and foot traffic to branches has fallen significantly in recent years.
These statistics have been used to justify bank branch closures for quite a while. But the element missing from this equation is the consideration of the community and the social licence upon which these business operate. The ongoing acceptance and approval of a business from the community and other key stakeholders for its operation are the often unseen and unappreciated part of their business success.
Organisations like banks and the post office should recognise that the level of frustration in the community with the industry is palpable. Nearly 2,500 people in my community alone have expressed their frustration in little more than a month, and there is an unquantifiable groundswell in the background behind that as well and an ongoing concern about access to services.
In my first speech to this House, I talked about making government more human. The same applies to our key services outside government. While there isn't a single clear solution to this issue, I think a good place to start would be encouraging organisations like our banks and Australia Post to consider their role in the communities they serve and the impact that constant widespread closures are having on their social licence—in addition, to consider a solution to how we preserve the access to face-to-face transactions, in spite of the dramatic spike in digital banking communications, in order to protect Australians and in particular old Australians in our communities.
We must remember: these businesses, including Australia Post, are community businesses. They are there to provide essential services to support those in our community, and, unfortunately, with some of their closures, the impact is being felt by those in our community who need their support most.