The Hon. Barnaby Joyce MP

Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs

Member for New England

Media Release

29 November 2023

BANK CLOSURE IN SCONE DESPITE CALLS FOR CEASEMENT DURING SENATE INQUIRY

Federal Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, has called upon the National Australia Bank to postpone and reconsider its decision to close its Scone Branch on 7 March 2024.

Mr Joyce said he was extremely disappointed to receive a letter from the NAB regarding the planned closure and has appealed to the Bank to keep the branch open.

“I am very disappointed to hear the news of yet another regional bank closure in the electorate of New England.”

“Banks provide essential personal and business services to regional communities and are part of the fabric of rural life. What all banks have to realise is not just how many people walk into their facility but what is the size of the money that is owed to the bank in that district. After all, that is how banks make money. There should be some return for that massive payment of interest that comes from the size of the NAB loan book in the district of Scone.”

Mr Joyce has written to the NAB asking the Bank to review this decision in light of the current Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee’s Inquiry into Bank Closures in Regional Australia which on 18 October 2023 has reopened submissions until 29 February 2024.

“I have highlighted that, following the establishment of the Inquiry earlier this year, the Committee called for all banks to immediately cease closing bank branches in regional towns until a proper assessment is undertaken about their impact.”

“The continuation of these regional bank branch closures just isn’t good enough,” he said.

Scone is a thriving and growing community with a number of important local projects underway including the CBD Revitalisation Project.

Mr Joyce said he is asking for the longer-term outlook for the Scone district be considered before any final decision is taken in relation to the Scone Branch.

I would strongly encourage residents in the New England electorate affected by the closure of bank branches to make a submission to the Committee’s Inquiry.

Information about the Inquiry, including how to make a submission and the can be found online at:

aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/BankClosures.

Media Contact: Heidi Williamson

0436 807 792