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Speaker 1: Now inquiry, let's bring it back home. We got an

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Speaker 1: inquiry in the banking generally with an emphasis though on

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Speaker 1: rural services. The big banks have just committed to keeping

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Speaker 1: their regional branches open for the next three years. That's

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Speaker 1: following the conclusion of that regional bank hub trial last year. Now,

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Speaker 1: one of those advocating for banks to remain in small

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Speaker 1: towns is Rural Women CEO Gabrielle O'Brien, who is with us.

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Speaker 1: Gabriel morning, good morning. Just in very general terms, that

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Speaker 1: announcement made by Nicola will us yesterday. Will anything do

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Speaker 1: you think come out of it? Or you hope will

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Speaker 1: come out of it? And if so, what needs to

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Speaker 1: come out of it?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think we're hoping that there will be a

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Speaker 2: lot that comes out of it. And the inquiry Nicola

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Speaker 2: has identified competitive, most custom service, and profitabiliperity to best

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Speaker 2: three things that need to be looked at. And we

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Speaker 2: know from the feedback we get from people in rural

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Speaker 2: communities that those are all issues for them.

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Speaker 1: How of all the issues in banking, how big a

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Speaker 1: deal in rural New Zealand is a local branch.

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Speaker 2: It's just so important ortant that local branch is a

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Speaker 2: place where people can get good information. It's a place

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Speaker 2: where they can conduct their business without having to go

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Speaker 2: travel a long distance or not have access to the

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Speaker 2: advice that they need. It's you know, the feedback we

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Speaker 2: get is that face to face is really important. There

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Speaker 2: are still issues with connectivity in parts of rural New Zealand,

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Speaker 2: so digital services don't always work. So having the opportunity

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Speaker 2: to visit a branch to do your business there, to

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Speaker 2: get access to someone who understands the a rural sector

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Speaker 2: and who can help you with your questions is really important.

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Speaker 1: It's important to explain that to the rest of us

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Speaker 1: because I get the connectivity part, but is it because

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Speaker 1: the farms are complex and you're running complex businesses and

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of changing aspects to it. That's why

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Speaker 1: you need a person who's steeped in the community understands

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Speaker 1: farming as opposed to somebody on the end of a

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Speaker 1: phone in Wellington who may may not have any clue

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Speaker 1: what you're talking about.

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Speaker 2: That's vitally important. They are complex businesses. There are other

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Speaker 2: rural businesses that also need that advice and support, but

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Speaker 2: it is different and if there is not someone who

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Speaker 2: understands that business and how it operates. Then you know

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Speaker 2: a farming business or another rural business, then an opportunity

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Speaker 2: could be lost. A person can be put in a

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Speaker 2: difficult situation where they're not getting the right advice. That

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Speaker 2: puts pressure on people, and that's not a great thing.

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Speaker 2: We want rural communities and rural farms and businesses to

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Speaker 2: get really good support from their banks.

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Speaker 1: All the stuff I'm hearing from people like fed farmers

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Speaker 1: at the moment that banks are letting rural New Zealand

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Speaker 1: down the relationship, isn't there some of the guys with

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Speaker 1: big debt, they're not getting the sort of service that

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Speaker 1: is that what you're hearing is that true?

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Speaker 2: Look. I think that the celebrated farmers survey really demonstrates

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Speaker 2: that in terms of the feedback that they've been getting

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Speaker 2: from people, is that that is the sense that there

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Speaker 2: is just not that confidence in the banking sector. And

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Speaker 2: one of the things that we would hope from this

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Speaker 2: inquiry is that there is the opportunity for that to

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Speaker 2: be examined and see, well, you know what needs to

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Speaker 2: happen to change to actually restore that confidence.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff. Gabrielanics to talk to you go well, Gabriel O'Brien,

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Speaker 1: who's the Rural Women's CEO. It's going to be For

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