SADLY it’s something residents in rural and regional Australia have become somewhat used to – but each time it happens again it still creates anger, frustration and confusion for those affected.
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The contraction of services to non-metropolitan areas has gathered speed in recent decades as the likes of financial institutions and government departments choose to wind back access for those west of the Divide.
The latest announcement has come from Westpac, which has announced the closure of 147 third-party run outlets across the nation and the transfer of banking services to Australia Post outlets.
Five of those are in this region, in Manilla, Walcha, Quirindi, Guyra and Warialda.
Local residents and businesses have, of course, reacted angrily to the news, arguing what’s being proposed is a poor second to what currently exists.
Despite the bank talking up the changes as “giving our customers another way to bank with us”, the reality seems vastly different, the proprietor of the Westpac in-store service at Manilla for the past 14 years saying customers would be limited in the services they would be offered through Australia Post.
Once again it’s the elderly and those without ready access to transport who stand to be the worst affected if they can’t do everything they need to do in their town.
No doubt to someone in Sydney, the distance between Manilla and Tamworth – or Quirindi and Tamworth – seems relatively small on a map.
For small businesses, too, who generally bank once a day, any restriction in their daily transactions is far more than just an inconvenience.
The other issue in all this is the increasing number of services now offered by Australia Post, far outside their traditional postal role.
Going to the post office now to post a letter, buy a stamp or send a parcel requires joining a frequently lengthy queue, where perhaps half of the line are paying a phone bill, sorting out a passport application and doing their banking.
Well, in many places that queue just got longer.
For disgruntled Westpac customers they have the option of voting with their feet – one of the few options many in our small towns still have left.