Banks 'breaking all the rules' in bushfire (Sydney Morning Herald)

It is heartbreaking to watch the online news about the Australian bush fires in the state of Victoria. Before moving to the UK, we traveled through country Victoria. One of our favourite places was the country town of Marysville.


Marysville was a small country town, just outside the Yarra Valley wine region, surrounded by beautiful dense natural bushland and waterfalls.


On Sunday morning, we learned the township was completely destroyed by the fires. We read this news in disbelief. It's hard to comprehend that a place we visited, very much enjoyed and hoped to return to one day, doesn't exist anymore.

Many fires are still burning in the state of Victoria, and the financial cost is escalating. In the news today, an Australian bank went to press about what they are doing to help. In response to the emergency situation, they are "breaking the rules" to set up temporary bank locations in townships destroyed by the fires as locals won't leave, fearing they may not be allowed to enter again:

"What the team did, breaking all the rules, is shove some money in a cash box, take some scraps of paper for deposit slips and then set up in the local library. It normally takes us six months to open a branch and they did it in 30 minutes."

What great empathy. What great service. And I think this just goes to show- if a large organisation really wants to do something- anything for their customers, they can.