SINCE Thursday, July 26 when Bendigo Bank announced the closure of Korumburra’s last remaining bank on August 29, 2025, the Korumburra “Save our Bank” working group (currently made up of members of the Korumburra Round Table and the Korumburra Community Development Association Inc.) has been working hard to stop the closure of the branch. This follows the successful community campaign we coordinated in 2021 to save the bank; our submission to the Senate Inquiry into Bank Closures in Regional Australia in 2023; and our several meetings with state and regional managers of Bendigo Bank between 2021 and 2024.
As part of our renewed campaign to save the bank, we sent a letter to the Managing Director of Bendigo Bank inviting him to meet with us and demanding that the Bank reverse its decision, or alternatively that they support the establishment of a community bank in our town. We have also been in touch with Mary Aldred MP, federal member for Monash, who will be writing to the Managing
Director of Bendigo Bank to express her opposition to the decision and asking that they look at alternatives. She will also have the opportunity to raise the issue when Parliament resumes in July.
We have the support of Danny O’Brien who is writing to the board of directors. We spoke to Cr Nathan Hersey, who is also writing to the Managing Director to express his opposition to the closure and help us advocate for the establishment of a community bank.
In addition, we have done media interviews (ABC Gippsland radio and WIN News), begun exploring options for a community bank and we’ve reached out to the Yarram community who are in the same predicament to express our solidarity.
The impact of the bank closure on our community will be devastating, especially for our elderly residents, people with mobility issues, our local businesses, sporting clubs and community groups. We have been fighting and will continue to fight to keep the branch open.
Korumburra “Save our Bank” working group. (Kate Murphy, Noelene Cosson, Terry Waycott, Jenni Keerie, Melissa Dixon)
