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| Craig Farrell MLC. |
The bank has announced it will close its New Norfolk branch on November 7, leaving the Derwent Valley with just one bank. This follows the closure of local ANZ and NAB branches in recent years. MyState and its predecessors have a long history in the town, with the credit union-turned bank now occupying the site of the town's one-time Westpac branch.
"Like every other MyState customer I am very disappointed to see our local branch close," said Mr Farrell, who is both Member for Derwent and President of the Legislative Council. "Even those who aren’t customers are saddened by another business leaving our town."
Mr Farrell said he had transferred to MyState when the ANZ left the town, doing so on the basis that MyState was locally based and wouldn’t move out. He found the staff to be friendly and professional, even just for a chat, and the services great.
"We have a great Commonwealth Bank branch and I hope it stays, but I think we need to protect ourselves against any decisions made by remote head offices and give locals a choice," Mr Farrell said.
"As with the other major banks once a decision is made – that is it. We should direct our energy into establishing a community bank that is controlled by its contributors. I am happy to co-ordinate this and ask any others interested to contact my office so we can get things going."
Many years ago, the then Chamber of Commerce under the guidance of former banker Ray Williams, attempted to get a community bank, namely the Bendigo Bank, to be established in New Norfolk. This of course needs a number of people willing to invest and sadly there were not enough of those at the time - hopefully things may be a little brighter nowadays. I suggest Mr Farrell has a chat with Mr Williams, who has demonstrated his continued investment in this town, and see if they can proceed together to make this happen. Good luck.
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