Senate regional bank closures inquiry extends submissions deadline; extension a chance for ANZ customers to object to illegal cashless ‘branches’

Due to high demand, the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RARAT) Committee has extended the deadline for submissions to its inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia by a month, to 28 April.

The Australian Citizens Party (ACP) is urging all Australians who are disturbed by ANZ branches going cashless to voice their objections in submissions to the inquiry.

“The major banks are the only commercial businesses for which the customer is not always right”, ACP Research Director Robert Barwick said today.

“That’s why they can close so many branches and rip out ATMs to force us to go cashless—instead of serving us in a way that suits us, they can force us to serve them and their profit goals in a way that suits them.

“The Big Four banks get away with it because they are an oligopoly and can use their cartel-like power to dictate to the market.”

Barwick pointed to the Reserve Bank’s figures that show a record volume of cash in the community.

“The banks are gaslighting Australians by telling us that we are the ones who want to go cashless and bank online, yet they are aggressively removing any alternatives by closing branches and denying access to cash”, he said.

“Australians are hoarding record amounts of cash because most don’t trust the banks, and the banks hate it.

“So ANZ and the others are trying to socially engineer a cashless society that only benefits them, through being able to collect and monetise all of our data and take a cut of every transaction.

“How is abusing their market power in this way legal?” Barwick asked.

He also pointed out that, legally, ANZ’s cashless outlets cannot be called branches, as branches are defined in the law as taking cash deposits and giving change.

“ANZ’s cashless branches are not legally branches, but it’s up to Parliament to enforce its laws”, he said.

“ANZ and all bank customers should make a submission to the current inquiry and demand it—the extended deadline provides a great opportunity to do that.”

The ACP is campaigning for the government to establish a publicly owned post office bank to compete with the Big Four on service, by providing face-to-face banking services to all communities through the post office network, and by guaranteeing access to cash.

Mail your submission to the Committee at this address:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Email your submission to the Committee at rrat.sen@aph.gov.au
Upload your submission, and get more information, at the inquiry website
For more information, phone the Committee on 02 6277 3511.