ANZ and Suncorp have agreed to make significant investments in Queensland as part of ANZ's $4.9 billion plan to acquire Suncorp Bank.
ANZ on Friday said it had agreed to establish a major tech hub in Brisbane and hire or place 700 people there over five years.
Suncorp meanwhile has agreed to invest $25 million in the state including $19m to develop a disaster response centre in its Brisbane headquarters, which it has formally promised will stay in Queensland.
It will also spend another $2m on establishing a regional hub in Townsville with 120 employees located there, and invest $3m in community and education initiatives related to First Nations employment pathways, and disaster resilience and emergency management.
The two companies agreed to make the investments with signed agreements with the Palaszczuk government because the Queensland parliament needs to change a 1996 law known as the Metway-Merger Act to allow the deal.
Under the proposed amendments, the act and its Queensland headquartering requirements would only apply to Suncorp Group and its insurance business, which is not part of the sale to ANZ.
"Since the prospect of ANZ acquiring Suncorp was first raised, I have been clear we would only support the deal if it was good for Queensland," Treasurer Cameron Dick said in a statement.
"The commitments we've been able to secure from both Suncorp and ANZ ensure that the number of skilled jobs in our state's financial services sector will only grow, not just in the southeast, but in regional Queensland as well."
Suncorp group chairwoman Chrstine McLoughlin said this amendment, if approved, will further entrench Suncorp into the fabric of the Queensland community with continued investment and jobs in Queensland prioritised.
ANZ said the Brisbane tech hub would be home to specialists in digital, cloud and data.
"ANZ's tech hub will provide career opportunities to Queenslanders and will create jobs, lift wages and boost productivity," CEO Shayne Elliott said.
Suncorp said the disaster response centre would include technology to monitor severe weather and alert customers, as well as 20 new full-time roles at Suncorp's existing disaster response team in Queensland.
The investments are conditional on the deal going through, which remains subject to authorisation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, approval from the federal treasurer and the Queensland legislative amendments.
ANZ and Suncorp said they expect the deal to complete in the second half of 2023.
