Regional Banking Services

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:29): I rise today to speak about country towns and the services that are required in order to sustain those towns and the people who live within them. Recently, ANZ announced that they would close the Maitland branch, which is the last remaining bank branch in the town of Maitland. Maitland itself is a wonderful town about 170 kilometres north-west of Adelaide, with a recorded population of over a thousand people at the 2016 census. It is the most central town on the peninsula, servicing one of the richest, if not the richest, farming areas in the state.

Reliable rainfall and fertile soil have seen land prices rise by some 20 per cent in the last five years, bringing land sale prices to over $12,000 per arable hectare. As well as that, the latest data from rural financial services provider Rabobank records the YP as the fastest regional growth area in Australia between 2013 and 2017. It is clear that Maitland is an important regional centre in an affluent, growing region, yet somehow over the years it has gone from multiple bank branches to none.

In this short speech, I do not intend to reflect on the wonderful local employees that ANZ have had on the books on the YP. They do an exceptional job, they have done an exceptional job, they will do an exceptional job, and I would like to thank them all personally now for the contribution they have made to the community. Special thanks also should go to Amanda Schultz, the regional manager, for keeping me apprised of the goings-on throughout this process. I would, however, like to bemoan the fact that ANZ and other banking institutions have been removing branches from our wonderful regional towns. The Maitland community itself is understandably very upset at this latest development.

There will be impacts for business in Maitland, which includes a busy hospital, a major Toyota dealership, ag machinery and marine support businesses, a large nursing home, two pubs, an IGA, a hardware store, a newsagent, a post office, the principal YP council office, two growing schools, vital sporting facilities, op shops, a museum, a bakery, a cafe, a police station, a gym, a hairdresser, etc. It is a busy town with plenty going on. Thankfully, though, the Maitland post office remains open and offers agency services for people who bank with BankSA, Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and NAB.

Thirty per cent of this state's population live outside metropolitan Adelaide and they are just as deserving of equal services and support as those who live in the city. I am pleased that on this side of the house we are part of a government committed to increasing regional populations because regions do matter on this side of the chamber. We must keep our regional towns alive so that they can support our important primary industries and agribusiness sector, which just two weeks ago in this state was reported to have reached a record level, generating $15.2 billion in revenue in 2018-19, an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year despite the challenging conditions.

Support for small business, ag technology, on-farm innovation, more processing in our regions and tourism initiatives are all important to boost jobs growth in our regions in order for our towns to survive and grow. A third of people in South Australia currently live in country areas, and we cannot afford for all people to flood to the city to use their services. As I said, the Maitland community is most upset with the decision that on 12 August this year ANZ will close the last bank branch in the town. Today, I voice their concerns in this place on their behalf.

Whilst we are all aware of the changing times associated with technology, institutions have a responsibility, in my view, to provide a service to those who need it, and 11 per cent of people in Maitland did require face-to-face banking services. I am pleased that ANZ have agreed to leave their ATM in place following the branch closure and have worked with the employees of the Maitland branch to find alternative employment.

ANZ made the decision to close the Maitland branch because the figures to keep it open just did not stack up, despite announcing last October a statutory profit after tax for the full year ended 30 September of $5.95 billion and a cash profit of $6.47 billion. Such decisions make living in our regions less attractive. In response, we as a government must continue, as we have been doing, to incentivise against further decline in population numbers in rural towns. I look forward to continuing to work with the Maitland community to make sure that they have the services required in their town.