The Government’s role is to ensure that the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989 establishes the proper basis for continuing provision of postal services consistent with the Government’s social and economic objectives.
This is from an Adviser to the Minister for Communications Information Technology and the Arts writing to me last month in response to my complaints that Australia Post corporate stores are taking business from small business newsagents like me.
I have written to the Minister as well as other Ministers and Opposition members in the Parliament several times to draw to their attention to how far Australia Post has strayed from providing a postal service and that in doing this their 865 government owned stores are using the respected Australia Post brand to take business from independently owned small businesses.
How this can be defended as a social and economic objective of the Government is beyond me. I have told the government that the actions of Australia Post will contribute to the closure of some independent newsagents. Their response is spin.
…Australia Post is continually reviewing its services by examining costs, revenue and performance, including the capacity to meet contemporary customer needs.
Government sets the policy. They can, if they choose, direct Australia Post to focus on mail services and retreat from pursuing stationery, greeting card and other product lines which are already well covered by major and independent retailers.
My newsagency is opposite a government owned post office. They price compete with us on a range of products. We cannot match their buying power, nor their brand recognition. We cannot also match their sweetheart landlord deal which enables them to trade for half a day Saturday and not at all on a Sunday and therefore avoid huge penalty rates. If they want to compete with businesses like mine they ought to be forced to open as we do. This would force them to increase their prices. That they can close when they choose is proof that Australia Post uses its government ownership to leverage an unfair advantage.
The letter from the adviser ends:
Thank you for bringing your concerns to the Minister’s attention.
I doubt the Minister is even aware of the concerns for if she were she would want to understand more about how the policy of her government is hurting small businesses like mine. My newsagency was selling stationery for decades before Australia Post got into stationery. We were selling greeting cards for decades before they started. A Government concerned about small business would want to know how an enterprise they wholly own is ripping millions of dollars of sales out of the independent retail sector so they can be paid to Australia Post executives through performance bonuses and back to the Government in dividends.
The blood of businesses which close a result of competition from Australia Post will be on the Howard Government’s hands.