Region. BankWest 'committed' to expansion

The Perth-based, BankWest, which has business branches in Western Sydney, is committed to its expansion on the eastern seaboard, following the disappointing take-up of the rights issue by parent, the British bank, HBOS. A HBOS spokesperson said: “We’re in the middle of rolling out a major retail branch expansion on the east coast of Australia and that’s the chief focus of our management team there.” He would not comment on whether a sale was being considered. Both the NAB and the Commonwealth Bank have been named as possible buyers of BankWest, The Australian Financial Review said.

Penrith. ABC News to have an office at UWS

The ABC is appointing a Western Sydney reporter to be based at the Werrington South site of the UWS Penrith campus, following a request for office space by the State Editor, ABC News, NSW. In return, the ABC has agreed to provide UWS broadcast journalism students with internships working with the Western Sydney reporter and at other ABC newsrooms. Werrington South is home to the university's School of Communication Arts, and this is where its students and its state-of-the-art media and broadcast facilities are located. “The UWS School of Communication Arts has a creditable track record of graduates being employed by the ABC, and this takes a good relationship to another level,” a UWS spokesperson said.