2 - Demand post office inquiry hear from communities

Demand post office inquiry here from communities.

The 1st of September,

Call and or email the Senate Committee to insist they hold real hearings that give affected communities

the chance to have their say about losing post offices.

The Senate inquiry into the Australia Post-Retail Network

has one hearing scheduled for the 9th of September,

the middle of a parliamentary sitting week, and for just two hours.

This does not match the seriousness of an inquiry

that is looking at the survival of thousands of post offices

that provide essential services to all communities.

If you oppose the mass closure of post offices,

contact the Senate Environment and Communications Committee

and insist they treat this inquiry seriously,

and conduct more hearings that allow the communities

impacted by this agenda to have their say.

Carnage.

It's no exaggeration to say that the management of Australia Post

has caused carnage in the delivery of essential services

to hundreds of communities over the past few years,

as they closed more than 200 post offices.

Type save our post office.

Interchange.org to see literally dozens of petitions from distraught communities

that fall to save this essential infrastructure

that is the heart of any community.

Like so many corporate zombies with glassy eyes

transfixed on a totally digital future,

the overpaid management of Australia Post can only see a future in which

they get big bonuses for achieving profits from delivering parcels.

Australia Post's CEO Paul Graham's $3.3 million salary last year

contrasts with the CEO of the much larger US Postal Service,

who has paid $725,000 Australian.

Graham's executive team were all paid $1.8 million on average.

They literally don't care that communities need a face-to-face counter

to ensure all Australians able to engage with basic services

and not just the digitally savvy.

For example, in its submission to the inquiry,

the Randwick City Council has detailed the impact of Paul Graham

closing the Kensington Post Office, which has reduced neighborhood vibrancy

and economic activity, reduced equitable access to essential services,

particularly postal government and identity services that many residents rely on

for day-to-day activities, loss of accessible face-to-face service delivery

for older people, people with disability or mobility limitations,

people with limited digital literacy or internet access,

and residents experiencing socio-economic disadvantage,

reduced access to financial and banking services,

increased travel time and costs for residents,

changed perception of a sense of place.

Paul Graham has caused this damage in hundreds of suburbs and towns across Australia

and plans to do it to thousands more.

It is vital that the committee here from affected communities,

because otherwise the senators won't absorb the full reality of the impact.

The hearing that is currently scheduled will only hear from Australia Post

Management and the License Post Office Group,

LPOG, that represents the interests of the small business families

who own and operate two-thirds of the network.

The LPOG is fighting to save full service post offices for all communities,

but the inquiry will just become a he said she said argument,

if the committee doesn't hold more hearings that allow the communities to have their say.