Today is a perfect example of why the Federal Government should not own and operate the retail network of Australia Post shops. By closing Australia Post shops in Victoria today and avoiding penalty rates, the Government demonstrates, again, the advantage they have over newsagents.
While Government owned Post Offices are closed, newsagents in shopping centres are forced to remain open.
From around 2pm today, shopping malls across Victoria will be empty – the Melbourne Cup is the race that stops the nation after all.
While retailers around them will have received a letter, call and or fax from their landlord demanding that they are open for the entire hours which the centre is open, Australia Post can make their own rules. Their excuse is that they are a Government service.
Australia Post shops are more newsagency than Post Office. The government service side of the business is the lure to get people to their stores. More than 80% of their floorspace is used for selling products newsagents and other small independent retailers sell.
Their ability to close today saves a considerable sum of money. I wish I had the same option – not that I would use it. The double standards frustrate me.
I had hoped that the Rudd Labor Government would help small business and fix the abuse of Government ownership by Australia Post.
I’ll be shutting up for a bit just to watch it. I don’t know what my landlord policy on closing down for it.
What landlord is going to enforce this unfairness? They’ll be watching it too.
It is unfair that they can make their own rules where the landlords tells everyone else what to do.
Prepare to be asked for a lot of stamps and bill payment today. – Which annoys me having to waste my time explaining the situation to customers all day.
easy fixed get rid of the cup day holiday !!
For the first time, today is now a declared pub hol in the entire state of Vic. I’m not very happy that I have to pay dble and a half for staff to do bugger all as it’s so quite in our country town. Hence, staff are at home enjoying the day off while the bosses work on what is normally my day off. Not happy!!!
Can Australia really be taken seriously internationally when we allow this ludicrous holiday, a throw back to the old labor regime?
As the world economy descends into one of our toughest times ahead, we do not even have the intelligence to legislate for the removal, even temporarily, of these immoral public holidays.
You won’t see landlords attempting to ease the burden on retailers as the credit crunch strikes; they will continue to ramp up the rents every anniversary and conveniently ignore that the small business industry, the highest employer) is about to be strangled.
Anon,
Landlords aren’t there to “ease the burden on retailers”. Business needs to get touger and smarter. There are good times and not so good times – business needs to effectivly manage the change, not complain about about it.
I can think of more ludicrous public holidays than the Melbourne Cup. Good Friday and the Queens Birthday spring to mind. The time spent complaining about public holidays could be used far more effectivly.
Id also note that I don’t know of any association, marketing group or individual in the newsagency industry that made submission on the new Draft National Retail Award. This was the perfect opportunity to raise the issue of public holiday rates.
Jarryd,
Perhaps Good Friday means very little to you personally, which of course is your right, but Australia being a Christian country and the death of The Lord and His subsequent Resurrection being the two most signaficant symbols of Christianity, it is only right that those days be observed, in this country, as days of rememberance and not be regarded as ludicrous public holidays as you suggest. Being a Christian country it tolerates comments such as yours, and one can only wonder asto your freedom of speech if you were to make similar comments against the predominant Religion in some other non Christian country.
well said Graeme – statements such as Jarryd’s typify the slow erosion of the basic tenets that created such a wonderful Christian country such as ours.
Perhaps this is not the forum for such debate, but I too shook my head at his assertion that the Melbourne Cup has more relevance in Australia than Good Friday. God help us all.
If you are so tolerant you wouldn’t demand the whole country shuts down to observe your rituals.
On distribution, there isn’t even the luxury of deciding whether to defy a landlords edict or not, theres a paper everyday so we have to deliver everyday. There are no public holidays for us, just days we gotta accept an extra wage bill and we aren’t even allowed to charge a public holiday levy.
sell up then and stop whinging
Graeme,
I am in two minds about your comment about needing Good Friday off to observe these symbols of Christianity. I agree that Christains should be free to observe their respective religions.
However it can be done without having a Public Holiday. In Ireland where the Christian religions amount to approx 91% of the population (it is approx 68% in Australia), Good Friday is NOT a Public Holiday yet the churches cater for the needs of Christians by holding morning and evening masses and the general public support these in large numbers although they are dwindling in recent years.