A NEW purchasing contract by the State Government would mean all state-owned organisations such as schools, hospitals and water boards would have to close accounts with local banks and transfer their money into one of three big banks – the Commonwealth, Westpac or NAB.

LOWAN MP, Emma Kealy demanded the State Government reverse this mandate as she said it would come at the expense of local banking, specifically Bendigo Community Bank branches, which put so much back into local communities in western Victoria.