July 16, 2015
Nati branch sacrificed for bank billions
Maori Party MP Marama Fox is incensed Westpac is closing its Ruatoria branch.
Locals in the predominantly-Maori community claim consultation on the branch’s future was a sham, and the bank refused to consider alternatives that could have allowed it to stay open beyond September.
Ms Fox says people on the East Coast have been loyal to Westpac, but the Australian-owned bank has not been loyal to them.
"Here is a bank that made $4 billion profit in the first six months of this year and they are going to close the only branch betweeen Ruatoria and Gisborne in the south and Opotiki or Whakatane in the northwest. It's just annoying beyond belief," she says.
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