January 25, 2019
Agriculture Minister and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has accused the ANZ Bank of “abandoning” 61 country towns by backing out of a deal with Australia Post.
“I’ve had a couple in Chinchilla contact me, absolutely shattered that they’ve supported ANZ for 60 years and now their bank’s going to abandon the town through its affiliation with Australia Post,” Mr Littleproud said.
“It’s not just Chinchilla, though – this month ANZ pulled services from 61 rural and remote communities in my electorate.”
Mr Littleproud named Bell, Blackbutt, Nanango, Wooroolin and Yarraman as some of the other towns to be affected in Maranoa.
South Burnett post offices in the Flynn and Wide Bay electorates would also be affected.
“My advice in response to this callousness? Take your business elsewhere because ANZ obviously doesn’t care about country people who’ve supported it for decades as ANZ’s decided to abandon bush communities and leave customers high-and-dry,” Mr Littleproud said.
“ANZ made a whopping $9.9 billion profit last year and won’t spend a measly $22 million to partner with Australia Post to guarantee local services in the bush – this appalling decision really shows it puts profits ahead of people.”
Mr Littleproud said the Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac have each agreed to pay $22 million to continue their partnerships with Australia Post.
