The curious aspect of ANZ's announcement yesterday that it will shed 1000 jobs in Australia by the financial year-end is that it has taken the knife to its most efficient and profitable division.The Australian division produced a 1.04 per cent return on assets for the 2010/11 financial year. Its net interest margin was 2.57 per cent and its cost-to-income ratio was 42.9 per cent.During the bank's presentation of its financial results last November, chief executive Mike Smith made special mention of the fact that ANZ's Australian operation had a cost-to-income ratio that was the lowest among its peers.Smith went on to say: "Can it do better? Yes it can, and I think that the recent changes we have made around the management structure for actually changing the operating model within Australia are going to be quite important."ANZ's New Zealand division came closest to the Australian division. It reported a 0.99 per cent return on assets, a 2.47 per cent net interest margin and a 47 per cent cost-to-income ratio.The Asia-Pacific, Europe and America division reported a 0.9 per cent return on assets, a 1.62 per cent net interest margin and a whopping cost-to-income ratio of 59.7 per cent. The institutional division reported a 1.9 per cent return on assets, a 1.9 per cent net interest margin and a 40.8 per cent cost-to-income ratio.ANZ's current strategy appears to be to use Australia as a cash cow while it continues to invest heavily in its costly Asian expansion.