Federal Member for Calare Andrew Gee urged the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to work harder to find an alternative to branch closures in Molong and Blayney, following suggestions of transitional measures he labelled 'unacceptable'.
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In a statement on Friday, Mr Gee said CBA executives proposed putting 'information officers' in Blayney and Molong 'a couple of days a week' as a transitional measure in the months following the planned branch closures on June 4.
"Whilst the bank believes this to be a workable situation, it is not an acceptable outcome for the communities of Molong and Blayney," Mr Gee said.
"The information officers would not be providing banking services, but would merely be providing customers with banking information at an undisclosed location."
Mr Gee explained the proposal was put forward during he, Blayney mayor Scott Ferguson and Cabonne mayor Kevin Beatty met with CBA chief executive officer Matt Comyn and other senior executives.
"The fact the bank believes this to be a positive outcome highlights the huge gap between the CBA headquarters and community feeling on the ground in our region," he said.
"I have indicated to the bank that this is not good enough for our comminutes.
"Whilst I appreciate that the bank has engaged with mayor Scott Ferguson, mayor Kevin Beatty and I, and have attempted to be constructive, what they have come back with simply isn't good enough."
Mr Gee also called on CBA to listen to the community in an upcoming visit, calling the move to close the two branches a 'stark example' of profit being prioritised over people.
"I know that representatives from the bank are set to visit Molong and Blayney in the coming days and I would urge them to listen to community sentiment and keep these branches open," he said.
"I hope that when they visit our area they will listen and learn and come up with a solution that keeps these branches open.
"It is quite clear that both the Molong and Blayney districts are still profit centers for the bank, and that these branches are being closed merely to boost profits for the bank's shareholders.
This is a stark example of Australia's banks putting super profits ahead of their long-standing and loyal country customers, who rely on the banks to provide the services they need to manage their businesses and livelihoods.
These bank closures are a huge issue in regional Australia and we need to fight them, so that our country communities are not left behind, while the big four banks line their ever-increasing back pockets."
