A parliamentary inquiry into regional bank closures will be held by the Senate, following the termination of hundreds of branches across the country.
A motion brought by Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick passed without discussion on Wednesday, with the inquiry to examine the economic and social impacts of branch closures.
The motion has been sent to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport references committee, with findings to be delivered by December 1.
Senator Rennick said the future of regional towns was being put at risk.
"I've seen the withdrawal of a lot of essential services from regional towns, and I'm totally opposed to that," he said.
"It's the regions that underwrite the wealth of this country, whether it be farming or mining or tourism."
Senator Rennick said the inquiry would be driven by responses from residents.
"We'll hear from councils and local residents. We'll also hear from Australia Post and the banks themselves," he said.
Report slammed by union
A report handed down last year by the Coalition-formed Regional Banking Taskforce called on banks to improve communication with locals when closing branches.
But several bodies, including the Financial Sector Union (FSU), slammed the report as a "waste of time".
FSU secretary Jason Hall hoped this latest inquiry would be handled differently.
"The taskforce the previous Liberal government put in place was pointless," he said.
"It didn't allow much consultation at all, and was basically run by the major banks.
"Hopefully this inquiry will actually be a fair and reasonable process."
Closures continue
Several towns in regional Western Australia and many others across the country have been left without a bank in recent months, after the big four announced widespread closures to cut costs.
Wongan Hills in the Wheatbelt, Carnamah in the Midwest, and Tom Price in the Pilbara, have all been left without a bank, after Westpac announced closures.
The Great Southern tourist town of Denmark is the latest WA town to lose a bank.
Its local NAB branch closed yesterday, forcing customers to instead bank at the local post office, or travel 50km to Albany.
Denmark Shire CEO David Schober said he was not surprised when news broke of the NAB closure.
"It's fairly consistent with what the banking sector is doing," he said.
"While it wasn't a great surprise it was certainly very disappointing, particularly for the business sector."
The town now has one remaining Westpac branch, and Mr Schober said his shire would work hard to retain it.
"We don't really want to consider [having no branch at all]," he said.
"The shire is well in excess of 6,000 people and that is growing considerably. We think there's a vibrant community that's worth having a banking service."
