Australian Bank (ABL) was an Australian retail bank that operated between 1981 and 1989. It was established by Perth businessman Garrick Agnew (its first chairman) and Sydney-based Mark Johnson [1] (its first CEO). Johnson was also a co-founder of Macquarie Group.
At the time of its establishment in 1981, it was the first new trading bank in Australia since 1945. [2]
In the late 1970s, Agnew had expressed concerns that Australian banks were not sufficiently competitive. During a discussion with fellow Western Australian John Stone (then Secretary to the Treasury), Stone suggested (possibly in jest) that, if Agnew were so concerned, he should establish a bank of his own. [3] [4]
The bank opened offices in Perth (190 St George's Terrace), Sydney (17 O’Connell Street) and Melbourne (400 Collins Street, moving to 395 Collins Street from mid 1985).
Whilst initially successful, the bank soon struggled [5] in the wake of the turmoil in the Australian banking environment during the mid to late 1980s, particularly with bad debts arising from overseas loan funding following the floating of the Australian Dollar in December 1983.
The bank downsized through a series of staff redundancies commencing in early 1986, and finally wound up in February 1989 following its purchase by State Bank of Victoria. [6] [7] [8] [9]
The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reserves men's team in the Victorian Football League (VFL). The Sydney Swans Academy, consisting of the club's best junior development signings, contests Division 2 of the men's and women's underage national championships and the Talent League.
Bankwest is an Australian bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded as the Agricultural Bank of Western Australia in 1895 by the Government of Western Australia being renamed the Rural and Industries Bank in 1944, and Bankwest in 1994 before being privatised. After a period of being a listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange, it was taken over by the Bank of Scotland, and since 2008 has been a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank.
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) is a multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is Australia's second-largest bank by assets and fourth-largest bank by market capitalisation.
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania in the 20th century. It merged with many other financial institutions, finally merging with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 and being renamed to the Westpac Banking Corporation on 4 May that year under the Bank of New South Wales Act 1982.
108 St Georges Terrace or Palace Tower is a 50-storey office tower in Perth, Western Australia. Completed in 1988, the building measures 214 metres (702 ft) to its roof and 247 metres (810 ft) to the tip of its communications antenna. It was the tallest building in Perth from its completion in 1988 until 1992 when it was overtaken in height by Central Park. As of 2023, it is the third-tallest building in the city. The concrete tower has a distinctive profile, with a triangular plan.
John Dyson is a former international cricketer (batsman) who is now a cricket coach, most recently in charge of the West Indies.
The State Bank of New South Wales, from 1933 until 1981 known as the Rural Bank of New South Wales, was a bank that was owned by the Government of New South Wales. In 1994, it was taken over by Colonial Mutual and became the Colonial State Bank and then sold to the Commonwealth Bank in 2000.
Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory has been played continuously since 1911 and was the most popular football code in the nation's capital Canberra between 1978 and 1982. The current governing body is AFL Canberra founded 1922, while the development body is AFL NSW/ACT established in 1999.
A coffee palace was an often large and elaborate residential hotel that did not serve alcohol, most of which were built in Australia in the late 19th century.
Royal Melbourne Golf Club is a 36-hole golf club in Australia, located in Black Rock, Victoria, a suburb in southeastern Melbourne. Its West and East courses are respectively ranked number 1 and 6 in Australia. The West course is ranked in the top-five courses in the world. Founded 133 years ago in 1891, it is Australia's oldest extant and continually existing golf club. Unlike many metropolitan golf venues, The Royal Melbourne Golf Club has a capacity for 15,000 spectators.
Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early European settlement of Australia in 1788.
The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951.
CTC is a television station in Canberra, Australia. The station was the tenth to begin transmission in regional Australia, and the 26th station in Australia as a whole. CTC has an affiliation agreement to show content from Network 10. Just as it has had a number of owners, CTC has also had many different identities on-air – including CTC-TV, Super 7, Capital 7, 10 TV Australia, Capital Television, Ten Capital, Southern Cross Ten, Channel 9 and Channel 10. The station is owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo through Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd, as one of SCA's 10 stations.
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney.
A Very Private War is a 1980 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary about coastwatchers during World War II.
Sir Robert David Garrick Agnew was an Australian competition swimmer and businessman. As a swimmer Agnew represented Australia at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics, as well as the 1950 British Empire Games. After retiring from swimming he entered business, becoming involved in the resources industry in Western Australia.
The Canberra Times is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
The Nedlands Masters was a professional golf tournament in Australia, held at the Nedlands Golf Club in Nedlands, Perth, Western Australia. It was first played in 1947, again in 1950, and then annually from 1962. Like the Masters Tournament, the winner of the tournament was presented with a green jacket.
The Rural Bank Building was a landmark bank and commercial building on a block bounded by Martin Place, Elizabeth Street and Phillip Street in the Sydney central business district, Australia. Completed in 1936 and designed in the Inter-war Art Deco style by the bank's chief architect, Frank William Turner, the building served as the Rural Bank's main headquarters until 1982. Despite its distinctive design receiving recognition for its heritage value as "one of the finest art deco buildings in Australia", including from the Australian Institute of Architects and through a listing on the Federal Register of the National Estate, the Rural Bank Building was controversially demolished in 1983 and replaced by the postmodern State Bank Centre development by Peddle Thorp & Walker, prompting greater community efforts to protect the heritage of Sydney.
