PRESS RELEASE: Comprehensive survey shows Aussies strongly support a government post office bank

A large survey shows more than two thirds of Australians support a government post office bank, and only 6 per cent are opposed.
Curiously, the highest negative response came from residents of Canberra, but even then, from fewer than 1 in 10 people.
Australian Citizens Party Research Director Robert Barwick said today that the survey sends a powerful message to politicians that Australians want positive solutions to economic problems.
“All we usually get from the major parties is tinkering around the edges”, he said.
“The post office bank is a powerful solution to the crisis of private banks withdrawing services by closing branches—making sure cash services are accessible for both deposits and withdrawals, keeping post offices financially viable, and imposing real competition on the Big Four banks so they are forced to actually serve customers rather than just gang up to gouge them as they do now.
“Aussies who hear about this solution instinctively support it, so if the major parties want their votes, this is what they should do.”

DFA survey

The survey, conducted by Martin North’s Digital Finance Analytics, asked 7,346 households the following question:
“Do you think the Government should support the creation of a postal bank: enabling the 4000+ Australia Post stores to provide face to face banking services in competition to the big four (NAB, ANZ, Westpac and CBA)? This would enable Australia Post branches to remain open profitably and also put downward pressure on interest rates and costs of living.”
The survey results show 69 per cent of respondents answered positively:
• 28.2 per cent responded “yes absolutely”;
• 11.4 per cent – “yes”;
• 17.2 per cent – “yes possibly”;
• 12.2 per cent – “yes maybe”.
The large majority “yes” responses contrast strikingly with the tiny 6 per cent of “no” responses, which reflected more uncertainty than outright opposition:
• Zero responded “absolutely not”;
• 1.8 per cent responded “probably not”;
• 4.3 per cent were “maybe not”.
Of the remaining 24.9 per cent of respondents, 15.5 per cent answered “not sure”, and 9.4 per cent answered “no idea”.
The element of uncertainty reflects that the survey question was added to DFA’s rolling survey of the cost of living and housing, which is a huge survey of 1,000 households per week, covering more than 50,000 per annum; the post office bank question was an unusual addition to the rest of the cost of living questions, and many respondents would have been unaware of the proposal.
However, the 69 per cent of positive responses shows Aussies know a good idea when they see it.
And the sample size of the poll, 7,346 respondents, is very large: for a comparison, The Australian newspaper’s monthly Newspoll is based on a sample of 1,000-1,500 respondents.

Urgent solution

Robert Barwick emphasised the post office bank solution is urgent, because every day without it the Australian economy is suffering.
“It’s the solution to saving face-to-face banking services and cash, which a quarter of Australians who aren’t ‘digitally included’, including elderly, disabled, and first nations Aussies, are suffering without”, he said.
“It’s the solution to saving post offices from going under, many of which are under threat; for example, Burketown in northern Queensland is about to lose its post office, which is its lifeline to the world, but it would remain viable if it was the branch of a post office bank.
“It’s the solution to the cost of living, as it would be able to provide cheaper loans to individuals and businesses and increase competition in the economy.
“The people have spoken”, he said. “It’s time for politicians to act.”