It is not only about closing branches, or sacking workers, or making efficiency improvements through the use of clever algorithms, such as artificial intelligence.
This is about one of the pillars of the community, our banks – which provide jobs and safeguard our savings, and help small businesses start and succeed – abandoning their traditional role of serving the community to become profit machines.

I'm posting this mainly to remind everyone member owned banks exist
- P&N/BCU
- VicBank
- Great Southern Bank
- Police Bank
- Bank Australia
- People First Bank
and quite a few others

I have nothing but praise for the customer service of P&N. Services and rates are comparable if not better than the big banks.

Corporate banks have boars elected by investors and are motivated to skim as much of your money as possible. Member elected boards are elected by you and are motivated to provide a good service.

• Hami Nepal used Discord app to mobilize protests
  
  • Sudan Gurung and team propose cabinet changes, focus on youth involvement

  
  

• Protests against corruption lead to 51 deaths, over 1,300 injured

KATHMANDU, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A former DJ and his obscure Nepalese non-profit used a social media app popular with video gamers to drive massive protests and become the unlikely power brokers in installing the country's new interim leadership.

Sudan Gurung, the 36-year-old founder of Hami Nepal (We are Nepal), used the Discord messaging app and Instagram to mobilise massive demonstrations that forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign, in the deadliest political crisis to hit the Himalayan nation in decades, a dozen people involved in the demonstrations said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/young-activists-who-toppled-nepals-government-now-picking-new-leaders-2025-09-14/

Australia’s school funding system is unfair and inefficient, entrenching inequality. The article calls for a new model where all schools are publicly funded without fees.

Australia now has one of the most socially segregated school systems. More than 80% of students from disadvantaged families attend public schools, compared with just 12% in Catholic schools and 8% in independent schools.

Thirty years later, the negative consequences of this model are clear. It is seriously undermining our public school system, dividing communities and costing far more than it needs to. It entrenches inequality, yet survives because every reform attempt meets fierce resistance.

Yet there was little difference in educational outcomes such as VCE results and NAPLAN scores. Admittedly, these are not the only desirable outcomes — Carey may offer more extra-curricular activities — but questions arise about the relative efficiency of the two schools, as well as whether parents are truly getting value for money.

Countries that perform better on international tests — such as Canada, the UK, Ireland and New Zealand — offer choice within a publicly funded system. Schools may have distinct features, but they cannot charge fees. This keeps performance gaps smaller and prevents segregation by class.

Australia could adopt a similar model. Both levels of government would develop a common formula, based on a revised SRS[Schooling Resource Standard], to fully fund all schools – government and non-government. Schools could retain their ethos but would not be allowed to charge fees. Most private schools already receive close to or above 80% of the SRS, so the additional cost would be less than many assume.

Such reform would not abolish choice; it would simply make choice affordable and equitable. As in the UK and Canada, only a small minority of schools would remain outside the system.

School funding: Time to break the mould and build a new model

A deep contradiction has developed between Australia’s values and the way our schools are funded.

^{johnmenadue.com}

Hochul endorsed Mamdani in a New York Times opinion essay published Sunday evening.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has endorsed Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayor's election.

Hochul, a Democrat, backed Mamdani in a New York Times opinion essay published Sunday evening.

"In the past few months, I've had frank conversations with him," Hochul said in the essay. "We've had our disagreements. But in our conversations, I heard a leader who shares my commitment to a New York where children can grow up safe in their neighborhoods and where opportunity is within reach for every family."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul backs NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani

^{Dennis Romero (NBC News)}

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/13/california-advances-effort-to-check-kids-ages-online-amid-safety-concerns-00563005