To address the growing uncertainty over the financial system, in the face of rising inflation and interest rates, the increased risk of a domestic banking crisis because of our banks exposure to the property bubble, the increasing rate of bank branch closures and threat to viability of our postal service, the Citizens Party is spearheading a campaign to establish a public post office bank.
- Why we need a public post office bank
- Seven benefits of a public post office bank
- Commonwealth Postal Savings Bank Bill
- How a public postal bank would work in Australia
- State of Banking in Australia – The national picture
- International examples of post office banking
- Recruit your community—Local Government Resolutions
- Solve financing needs of local government
- Prominent calls for, and to investigate a public bank option
- Christine Holgate and The Australia Post Senate Inquiry
As part of that effort, the Citizens Party has drafted the Commonwealth Postal Savings Bank Bill, in coordination with Bob Katter MP, to establish a public postal bank similar to the way the original Commonwealth Bank started in post offices in 1912.
Importantly, the original Commonwealth Bank first proved its value as a public bank in the global financial panic of 1914, when it averted a “run” on all Australian banks by the actions of its Governor, Sir Denison Miller, who announced publicly that the Commonwealth Bank stood behind the deposits in all of the banks; consequently, the feared bank panic didn’t eventuate. (In London, which was the epicentre of the 1914 panic, the Commonwealth Bank’s London office was the only bank to remain open during the emergency.)
Like the Commonwealth Bank then, a new public post post office bank will be able to guarantee deposits and provide financial services because it is owned by the government. Put simply, governments are far, far less likely to go bankrupt than private banking corporations are, so customers of public banks can have confidence that their deposits will always be honoured and they will have access to banking services.
What you can do
This grassroots campaign is absolutely a fight we can win, not least because a postal bank is already a popular idea in Australia.
In Parliament it is supported by Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON), the Greens, and likely the National Party (at least most Nationals). Prominent members of both the Labor and Liberal parties also support the policy. The post office unions, including the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and its parent the Communications, Electrical, and Plumbers Union (CEPU), support a postal bank, as do the LPOs represented by the Licensed Post Office Group. See further information for more details of this support.
The goal of this campaign is to unite the existing support, and recruit more support, around the Commonwealth Postal Savings Bank Bill, to make this a front-line political issue and get the bill passed. It is up to the citizens of Australia to spread the word and build the support. This is how you can help:
1. Get this information into your community. Click on the image to Download PDF for printing or attaching to email.
Call 1800 636 432 if you would like to order physical copies and have them sent to you.
Some suggested places you can take one the information:
- Local post offices
- Local Federal and State Members of Parliament
- Local Councils and Chambers of Commerce
- Union representatives
- Community leaders, clubs and organisations
- Local businesses, especially those operating in shopping strips or immediate proximity to their local post office or in areas that have lost their local bank/s
- Anyone who values and relies on their local post office, especially their banking services.
2. Contact Elected Representatives
- Call and email your Federal MP and Senators. You can find their contacts details from the Parliament website. Tell them to support Bob Katter’s bill for a public pos office bank.
- Ask local representatives and organisations to endorse the Commonwealth Postal Savings Bank Bill by passing a motion/resolution similar to the ones discussed in Recruit your community—Local Government Resolutions.
3. Sign and share petition: An Australia Post ‘people’s bank’—a win-win solution for the nation
Source – https://citizensparty.org.au/campaigns/public-post-office-bank