Well it may be right or it may be wrong, but it is easy to understand why the wider electorate are fed up to the backteeth with this economic rationalism. I suppose it is fair to say banks don't have social obligations beyond that of any normal institution and I suppose it is fair to say banks don't have any responsibility to maintain bank branches anywhere. After all they are privately owned commercial organisations. They would argue their role is to serve the interests of their shareholders and their customers.
The Commonwealth Bank said on Friday it would get rid of 2000 more jobs over the next two years, so no obligation to employees. That's on top of the 1,000 that have gone over the last 12 months.
That means that the total number of jobs cut by the National Australia Bank, the Commonwealth and the ANZ in the last year alone is 11,500.
St George Bank is in the middle of getting rid of 1400. These are massive numbers. The Finance Sector Union says 36,000 full time jobs have been lost in the banking industry from June 90 to June 97. The union argue that during the same period 850 branches have been closed while at the same time the banks are recording billions of dollars in profit.
I wonder if anyone has done an audit on where those 36,000 people have gone since 1990 who thought perhaps they had a job for life. When governments start wondering out aloud why disillusionment is rife within the community then they might consider the impact of change on people's lives.
It is uncertainty like this that is the root cause of the anger with the major political parties.
I'm Alan Jones