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Speaker 1: We've been talking about banks and the fact they're rapidly

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Speaker 1: disappearing from our local streetscape and out in the northern suburbs.

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Speaker 1: There's another one about to go in Golden Grove. In fact,

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Speaker 1: the Commonwealth Bank at Golden Grove is set to shut

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Speaker 1: its doors mid next month, and a petition that's been

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Speaker 1: organized by the local state MP Rhiann and Peas, the

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Speaker 1: Member for king has in its first few hours, attracted

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Speaker 1: hundreds of signatures. Let's have a chat with Rhiann and

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Speaker 1: Piers who is on the line. It was Piers, good morning.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, thank you very much for having me today.

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Speaker 1: Now this petition, that's amazing the amount of support you've

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Speaker 1: got for it already, very very quickly.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it has been an incredibly strong response from the

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Speaker 2: local community. Lots of people are sharing their different experiences

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Speaker 2: about why it's just so important to them, and we've

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Speaker 2: hit about five hundred and thirty five to date, so

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Speaker 2: certainly something people a feeling very strongly about.

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Speaker 1: What is it about this branch, particularly I understand it's

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Speaker 1: in a really busy, busy shopping complex, is that right,

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Speaker 1: or a busy area at least where it attracks a

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Speaker 1: lot of people to that particular vicinity.

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Speaker 2: No, it certainly is. So this is the Grove Shopping

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Speaker 2: Center or formerly known as the Village, is the centerpiece

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Speaker 2: of our local community. It's our main shopping precinct. And

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Speaker 2: the Commonwealth Bank has actually been situated at this shopping center,

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Speaker 2: I understand, from when it first opened back in two

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Speaker 2: thousand and two, so it has been serving our community

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Speaker 2: for a really long time. But it's also only one

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Speaker 2: of two that's available in all of my electorate as is,

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Speaker 2: so we're already quite low on these sorts of services

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Speaker 2: in the local community.

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Speaker 1: So all right, so another bank branch to go. And

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Speaker 1: I suppose if they all go, then what are people

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Speaker 1: they're going to do? Have to travel into town or

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Speaker 1: somewhere further afield.

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Speaker 2: No, certainly, well, for a lot of people in my community,

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Speaker 2: it would be about a forty minute round trip to

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Speaker 2: get their next closest common Wealth place. Yeah, and when

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Speaker 2: we think about even our local businesses at the center

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Speaker 2: who rely on their deposits and then their business to

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Speaker 2: operate functionally, that's a big proportion of their day that's

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Speaker 2: been taken out to cater that in and certainly for

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Speaker 2: those who don't drive or aren't able to travel too far.

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Speaker 2: It's it's a huge impact.

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Speaker 1: It flies in the face of logic by and even

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Speaker 1: statements by in this case comm Bank and all the

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Speaker 1: banks really that say they want to be there for

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Speaker 1: people and have a network of branches and all of that,

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Speaker 1: and they keep closing them. It's unreal.

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Speaker 2: No, absolutely, and I know a lot of services are

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Speaker 2: available online, but not everything is available online, and not

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Speaker 2: everybody is able to use those services. And it's really

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Speaker 2: important that we continue to have services in communities for

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Speaker 2: those that are needing assistance. And this one's actually in

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Speaker 2: quite a beautiful location that it's right next to our

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Speaker 2: local interchange in the area, so it's highly accessible and

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Speaker 2: it's right there next to all our other essential services,

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Speaker 2: be able to post office, we have a medical precinc here,

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Speaker 2: and we obviously have our grocery stores as well, so

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Speaker 2: it's quite a key location in the community.

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Speaker 1: It still does look after cash there, I presume until

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Speaker 1: it closes. At least it's not one of the ones

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Speaker 1: that's gone cash lists, so offering more than just someone

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Speaker 1: to talk to about the line.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely is. And it's certainly also with the ATMs there.

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Speaker 2: They goes to ATMs don't charge your fee for people

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Speaker 2: to be able to take out cash, And one of

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Speaker 2: the questions the community has been asking, well, what's to

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Speaker 2: happen with them? Are they at least going to stay

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Speaker 2: to provide some form of service to the community. There

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Speaker 2: aren't any other ATMs within the shopping center. There's two

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Speaker 2: associated with the other bank, but they do charge a fee.

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Speaker 1: Well, so many branches are big four banks closing four

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Speaker 1: hundred branches nationally last year. So it's look said at

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Speaker 1: this stage, I mean, I don't know how many signatures

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Speaker 1: you need, but even if you've got one thousand and

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Speaker 1: two thousand, would it make a difference, do you think so?

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Speaker 1: Commonwealth Bank seems pretty intent on doing this regardless.

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Speaker 2: I think it's important to show them how strongly a

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Speaker 2: community feels about this, but also why they feel strongly

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Speaker 2: about it. So what I've been loving is people also

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Speaker 2: providing me the reasoning why it's so important to have

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Speaker 2: it at this particular location and making those arguments as well.

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Speaker 2: But we won't achieve change if we're not working together

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Speaker 2: on this, and I think we can make a strong statement.

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Speaker 2: We can at least hopefully come to the table and

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Speaker 2: see what options are available to them. Sure that we

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Speaker 2: do have important services locked in at the shopping center,

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Speaker 2: that's for sure.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely well. Good on you for starting the petition and

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Speaker 1: getting some awareness and hopefully Commonwealth Bank sits up and

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Speaker 1: notices this and realizes, Okay, they are in the business

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Speaker 1: of making money for shareholders. But see they's not as

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Speaker 1: if they don't make any As we know, they make

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Speaker 1: big profits. So keeping branches open, you'd think we'd go

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Speaker 1: hand in hand with being able to afford to keep

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Speaker 1: them open, and so they certainly seem able to do.

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Speaker 1: Rhin and Piers thank you for your time.

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Speaker 2: No, thank you very much for your support the.

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Speaker 1: State member for the seat of King out in the

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Speaker 1: Golden Grove area and launching this petition five hundred and

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Speaker 1: thirty odd signatures immediately on opening the petition to keep

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Speaker 1: the Commonwealth Bank branch at Golden Grove open and functioning

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Speaker 1: beyond July twelve when it is set to close Friday

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Speaker 1: July twelve at four pm when the doors closed for

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Speaker 1: the last time, which is pretty poor really by banks

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Speaker 1: making billions birth billions of dollars profit every year and

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Speaker 1: their response to thank you very much for the money

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Speaker 1: that you entrust them with and pay back in the

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Speaker 1: form of interest on your mortgage or whatever it might be.

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Speaker 1: Closing the branch you do the business in and maybe

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Speaker 1: to loan out from it, keep making repayments to thank

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Speaker 1: you very much. Pretty poor