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Matthew Canavan welcomes Commonwealth Bank branch extension, calls for stronger government action to protect regional banking servicesNationals leader Matt Canavan welcomed Commonwealth Bank’s decision to keep 281 regional branches open until 2030, while urging the Government to protect banking access and rebuild services lost elsewhere. By news@gippsland - 1st October 2026 - Back to News Leader of The Nationals Matt Canavan has welcomed the Commonwealth Bank’s announcement to extend its moratorium on regional branch closures until 2030. Senator Canavan said regional communities would be pleased to hear the Commonwealth Bank will keep all of its regional bank branches for another four years, but it was now up to the Albanese Labor Government to give assurance that all regional banks would remain open. 
Nationals leader Matt Canavan welcomed Commonwealth Bank’s extension of its regional branch closure moratorium until 2030, urging Government assurances on banking access Regional banking uncertaintySenator Canavan said, "We welcome this announcement today, but this is really the bare minimum. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese clearly hasn’t done enough for our regional communities and is now leaving it up to the banks. Regional Australians shouldn’t have to rely on voluntary promises. The big four banks have already departed from regional Australia, especially when it comes to ATMs." "Hopefully this will put pressure on the others to do more. Our communities should be given certainty about their banking and the facilities they can need. While the Commonwealth Bank has committed to maintaining its 281 regional branches until December 2030, we have already seen many other bank branches close. Last year Bendigo Bank announced 10 regional branch closures and 28 agency closures, removing services from dozens of communities," he said. Restore regional bankingMr Canavan added, "A Senate Inquiry into Bank Closures in Regional Australia made eight recommendations, one of which included recognising banking as an essential service and committing to ensuring reasonable access to cash and financial services." "But the Government still has no plan to protect regional banking. Labor still hasn’t acted on the Senate inquiry’s recommendation to help establish new community bank branches in towns abandoned by the major banks. Preventing further closures is not enough. We must also begin rebuilding the regional banking services that have already been lost," he said. Pictures from Wikipedia page.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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