This is the government owned Australia Post shop opposite my newsagency as photographed this morning. (I had to wait for them to open at 9am. My newsagency was open at 7am.) Not a postal product in sight. No wonder shoppers get confused between their business and my business.
The functions of Australia Post are laid out in the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989. Like any Act, the devil is in interpretation. The Government and the well paid executives of Australia Post have demonstrated a flexibility in interpreting the Act which makes a mockery of Government small business policy.
The Act allows Australia Post to offer non postal products and services if they are incidental to their core functions. Is giving over 90% of your retail floor space to non postal product incidental? I think not. They do this behind the respected Australia Post brand – a brand burnt into our minds because of the postal service monopoly, not because of calendars, greeting cards, stationery and cheap China product. Their leveraging of the government owned brand into sales of items previously sold by small businesses like newsagencies makes a mockery of small business policy.
Here’s part of what I blogged earlier this week on this:
When farmers talk of the impact of droughts the government steps in with assistance. When auto makers talk of the impact of cheap imports the government steps in and helps. When newsagents talk of the impact of Australia Post the government ignores us.
Australia Post is our drought. For many years now it has been draining newsagencies of revenue. Many are close to death.
How many newsagencies need to close as a result of Australia Post competition before we see action?
What is the Government’s small business policy and where can I see it in action? Certainly not at a Government owned Post Shop.
This is a perfect shot, a picture can show evidence of the investment in this Post Office Shop.
Small business cannot compete with a government monopoly which has endless amounts of cash at the moment to wipe out Newsagents by products streams.
Why is it that the government can get away with this?
Derek you’re right about the picture. The Government gets away with this because the Opposition does not care about small business. They will when businesses close.
Spot on with this one. I’m a second hand bookseller and guess what the Licensed Post Office round the corner is selling at prices that would murder my margin if I tried to compete? Yep, you got it first time – second hand books. I sell quite a few books on the net so I’ve taken my couple of hundred bucks a month worth of postage to the P.O. that’s 10k’s away but is just a post office and rural transaction centre. I doubt the predators around the corner could care less though.
Mark- The sponge is now dry, it has been continually squeezed until the last moist dropped. What frustrates me is this government is ignorant to what is happenning and the effects down the track for many a small business and for the future of there employees.
Phil- That is important, you have made your stand, your line in the sand. Small business and its owners also must make a stand whether it is with there own suppliers and/or these post shops.
You can buy stamps of Ebay and make a small profit you know.
I came across some interesting figures from these Government owned monopoly post shops, approximately 50% of there revenue comes from its NON CORE business. This is the Revenue that is taken from Yours & 1000’s of other small business’s.
The post offices seem to have been desperately trying to be stationers and gimmick sellers to avoid what is evidently viewed as an embarrassing activity in these days of small government, that is, the *public service* of providing a postal service. It is true that they do perform this core activity extraordinarily well. However I hate having to negotiate the plethora of rotating stands in order to find one of the much-diminished writing benches, so I can prepare my letters and so on. I refuse to buy any of their assorted merchandise from them unless I really have to.
Well I came across this site by mistake, looking for whats new with the Newsagents and all I can see is newsagents having a winge about AP.
There are nearly 3000 Licensed Post Offices (LPOs)throught OZ that are Small Business as well, many strugglying.
They get screwed by AP more than you know.
Yes I own one however I am unable to tell the media or others about our situation as I have signed a confidentiality Ageement.
Our margins are very poor.
Mark the petrol that you spent on the 10 KLM trip was more than the LPO would of made for the $200 of postage, we dont get the postage money we only get a small %.
I live in a small town and our Newsagent makes twice the income that I do and they sell stamps,I am unable to sell Lotto,newspapers or mags.So who has the monopoly here?
Clem,
As I note in many of my posts, my only concern is with the 865 Government owned Post Offices.
Mark
Hi Mark, thanks for taking the time to respond as I thought no-one would, however you did mention that your local LPO was the culprit with the used books and that seems to upset you.
May be WE need to look at the our common enemy that is the Supermarkets and 7-11 stores they are the ones that are sucking both of us dry.
As you said you are only intersted in the 865 Government owned Post Offices so why is it that I feel that every time that the Newsagents Federation has an axe to grind on AP that I feel personaley attacked, why can’t your Federation say just like you did “the Government run Post officers” are the culprits not the small business LPOs…
Clem, I think you’re mistaking the comment from ‘Phil’ as being from me. The community needs to understand the damage supermarkets are doing to small businesses and to our culture. In the UK the problem has become so serious that their Parliament has completed a report on this. Unfortunately our politicians are asleep at the wheel. Mark
Mark, yes you are right I did get confused between you and Phil.
Our politicians are asleep at the wheel on quite a few issues, May be it’s time for a change of Government. just a Thought!.Clem