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Candidate Cameron
EDDIE BETTS DROPS BY
The Nationals have selected Traralgon business owner and well-known local footballer Martin Cameron to run for the seat of Morwell.
INSIDE TODAY
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ANOTHER ONE GONE MORE banks are departing Morwell as Westpac has announced it is closing its Commercial Road branch on August 8. It means that the Morwell central business district will only have one remaining bank branch after the ANZ, Bendigo, Commonwealth and Bank Australia brancehs closed within the past two years. The National Australia Bank has a branch operating on Princes Drive, while the CBA has relocated to Mid Valley and Bank Australia has converted its banking outlet to offices. A Westpac Group spokesperson said closing the branch was “not a decision we take lightly”. “We take into consideration customer usage, location, and proximity to other banking services,” the spokesperson
said. We are notifying customers of this change and the banking services available to them.” The big banking group is closing 24 branches and axing 76 jobs around Australia under its Westpac, Bank of Melbourne and St George brands, including 10 in Victoria. The Westpac spokesperson said the Morwell closure followed a significant shift toward digital and cashless banking, and declining foot traffic in bank branches. “Westpac continues to follow our customers by investing in the ways they are choosing to bank. “This trend is evident across the Westpac Group with over five million digitally active customers,” the spokesperson said. “Many of our customers are comfortable doing most of their banking
online, but for those who would prefer face-to-face service we will continue to offer a range of ways to bank with us.” Westpac is advising its customers that its Traralgon branch will still be operating, or to use the Morwell Australia Post banking services, or internet or phone banking. But the Finance Sector Union is accusing Westpac of “dumping staff and customers in a return to its aggressive branch closure program”. FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano said Westpac’s “obscene race to boost profits” was crippling the economies of many towns and important agricultural regions. “How long before the NAB walks away and leaves the community in Morwell without any local banking services?” Ms Angrisano said. “This is a low act, and shameful
behaviour from Westpac which pushes customers onto the scrapheap when a branch fails to meet its targets for new sales of banking products and a continuing boost to profits.” It comes as the Morrison Government had last year announced a Regional Banking Taskforce to assess the impact of bank branch closures on regional communities. Ms Angrisano said the federal government should impose a minimum service standard on banks to make sure customers are protected. “Shutting down branches means Westpac will continue to put profits before people,” she said. “The bank quite plainly doesn’t care about forcing inconvenience on customers and throwing affected staff onto unemployment queues.”
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