The Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia will hold hearings in WA this week, to give Western Australians the chance to have their say on the banks abandoning regional communities. On Tuesday the Senate inquiry will be in Carnamah, four hours north of Perth, where Westpac closed the town’s only bank in March.
The 200 Glenroy locals who protested the closure of the Glenroy Post Office last Friday, including Harold from Neighbours, represent a powerful message to the Albanese government: people are sick to death of losing their essential services.
This week, National Australia Bank has announced four more regional branch closures: Kyogle and Woolgoolga in northern NSW, and Inglewood and Mitchell in Queensland
NAB’s branches at Woolgoolga, Inglewood, and Mitchell are the last banks in town; Inglewood customers now face a 140-kilometre round trip to do banking, while Mitchell customers face a two-hour return trip to visit a bank.
The US-funded Canberra defence think tank that former Prime Minister Paul Keating called out as “a US cell” in its promotion of war with China is now smearing the campaign against bank branch closures in regional Australia as a “covert influence operation” of the Chinese government.
The same US and Australian political forces that have normalised talk of war with China have ripped an innocent Australian away from his wife and six children, holding him in solitary confinement, to make an example of him for their agenda.
Australians have until 6 20 August [deadline extended] to make submissions objecting to the government’s bill to regulate truth on social media. See submission details below.
