Westpac Ruatoria update

Organisers of a petition asking Westpac to retain the Ruatoria branch are disappointed the bank’s Chief Executive has withdrawn from a speaking engagement in Gisborne next week.

Ruatoria resident Manu Caddie said he received a phone call from Westpac’s area manager Dave Seymour yesterday to advise that chief executive David Mclean had pulled out of an event scheduled for Monday. The inspiring speakers event is organised by Eastland Group and Gisborne Chamber of Commerce.

“We are very disappointed that Mr Mclean will not be coming” said Mr Caddie. “East Coast residents and bank customers were planning to travel to Gisborne to present the signatures and express our support for the branch to remain as the last bank on the Coast.”

Mr Caddie said supporters of the branch will now gather at 3.30pm on Monday at the bank to present the petition to Mr Seymour who will be at the branch.

“It seems like the best option in the circumstances, bank executives have refused to meet with the community before they make the final decision – so this seems like our best opportunity to express local sentiment about the planned closure.”

Mr Caddie said it was frustrating that the bank had contacted some customers about the proposal but did not want to hear from the elderly and geographically challenged customers who would be hardest hit by the branch closure.

Westpac chief executive will be staying in Auckland next week citing ‘personal reasons’ for postponing the Eastland Group speaking event.

“I’m not sure why a banker planning to cut services to this region is considered an inspiring speaker” said Mr Caddie. “These are the overpaid individuals even the Pope has condemned as ‘greedy’. Pope Francis recently spoke at an investors ethics seminar saying “It is increasingly intolerable that financial markets are shaping the destiny of peoples rather than serving their needs, or that the few derive immense wealth from financial speculation while the many are deeply burdened by the consequences.”

“We see the Pope’s claims at work here as Westpac made nearly four billion dollars profit in the first half of this year, but a small branch serving a large geographic area is seen as too costly to retain. An ATM won’t provide a fraction of the services current staff offer.”

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