Brian Mitchell launches petition to keep St Marys CBA open
Councillors moved swiftly to try and save a small town from losing its popular bank branch, now a federal MP has launched a petition to fight the major bank’s sudden closure.
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UPDATE:
May 20, 10.15am
Councillors moved swiftly to try and save a small town from losing its popular bank branch, now Federal Labor Member for Lyons Brian Mitchell has launched a petition to fight the major bank’s sudden closure.
Mr Mitchell said the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s recent announcement they would close their St Marys shopfront on Main St on August 6 was among a string of rural branch closures “hollowing out regional towns”.
“This was a top down, arrogant, out of touch decision from corporate headquarters,” Mr Mitchell said.
“They’re still making billion dollar profits, they just don’t care about their regional customers full stop.”
The Lyons MP set up a stall in the North East township on Wednesday from 10am-3.30pm and collected 181 valid signatures.
The online petition has since gained 150 signatures, with the goal of reaching 500 total by the week’s end.
“We’re hoping to get CBA to change its mind,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The community knows it’s unlikely the petition will make a difference, but we don’t want to make it easy for them, we want to give them a kick on the way out – send them a message you can’t treat regional communities with this level of disrespect and get away with it.”
Mr Mitchell said the AusPost outlet next door to the St Marys CBA shopfront had recently signed a deal with big banks to offer front desk banking services, but they did not offer the full range or an ATM like CBA, leaving business and everyday customers in the lurch.
“Some of the people we spoke to were older people, they don’t like the idea of banking at AusPost because of the lack of relative privacy,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The (CBA) branch provides an important face-to-face service for the St Marys community, which is largely comprised of older Tasmanians who may not be equipped or able to manage their finances through online banking.
“The nearest branch is St Helens, which is more than 35km away through a winding and narrow mountain pass.”
Politicians already behind the cause included Break O’Day Council Deputy Mayor Jon McGiveron, who proposed an emergency motion on Monday for the council to secure a physical banking location in the area, Break O’Day Council Mayor Mick Tucker, and state government Member for Lyons Guy Barnett.
The politicians were hopeful Bendigo Bank, with whom Mr Mitchell used to be a board director, would come to the town’s aid.
CBA regional general manager David Castle said a 36 per cent drop in transactions at the branch over the past five years was to blame for the “difficult decision” approaching their lease expiry.
“We have redeployed more than 95 per cent of staff from branches that have closed,” he said.
“Our people from St Marys branch will be offered redeployment opportunities, including roles supporting customers over the phone and online, or other comparable roles where it suits them.
“For St Marys customers, we have another branch in the region at St Helens. We’ve found that 26 per cent of customers from St Marys are already visiting St Helens branch.”
Mr Castle said customers could use Bank@Post at the St Marys LPO Australia Post outlet, or access CommBank online 24/7 via NetBank or the CommBank app.
EARLIER:
May 17 2021, 8.48pm
A COUNCILLOR is pushing to save a rural community from the effects of an “unacceptable” and sudden bank branch closure.
Break O’Day Council Deputy Mayor Jon McGiveron said the Commonwealth Bank had “without any prior notice or consultation” announced it would close the St Marys branch on August 6.
The closest CommBank branches are 35km away in St Helens or an hour’s drive away in Campbell Town.
Cr McGiveron proposed an emergency motion in a council meeting on Monday morning to “take any action available to assist to resolve this unacceptable situation using any means possible to support our residents”, citing the Fingal Valley’s reliance on banking services.
Mayor Mick Tucker encouraged the Valley Community to switch to more community-minded banks.
“This is a case of big banks putting their profits and shareholders in front of their communities and customers in remote areas yet again,” Mr Tucker said.
“It simply isn’t good enough that we all hear about this through the media and that there has been no discussion with the community or Council around what we could do together to ensure that our community has adequate banking facilities.”
Mr Tucker said a story published in the Examiner on Saturday was how most locals, and politicians, found out about the closure.
“This is an issue we as a Council must take seriously as our community clearly are,” he said.
All Councillors voted unanimously for the Council to immediately start liaising with Bendigo Bank to determine whether they could provide a branch in or near St Marys.
Liberal member for Lyons Guy Barnett had contacted the Commonwealth Bank state manager on Friday to share his “disappointment” over the closure of the 36 Main St, St Marys branch.
“The branch provides an important face-to-face service for the community, and is of particular benefit for older Tasmanians, people living with a disability and small businesses in the area,” Mr Barnett said.
“I have urged the Commonwealth Bank to reconsider its decision and I have asked what can be done to make the branch more viable so that it remains open.”
Commonwealth Bank regional general manager David Castle said the closure was due to a 36 per cent drop in transactions over five years and a looming lease expiry.
“We recognise some senior customers prefer to do their banking face-to-face and this is one of the reasons why CBA is proud to maintain the largest branch network in the country,” he said.
Mr Castle said 26 per cent of St Marys customers were already visiting the St Helens branch.
He said customers could use Bank@Post at the St Marys LPO Australia Post outlet, or access CommBank online 24/7 via NetBank or the CommBank app.
Alternatively, Mr Castle suggested contacting local contact centres between 6am and 10pm each day on 13 22 21 for general banking inquiries.
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