by leave—on behalf of the member for Kennedy, I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the continued decline of essential postal and banking services in regional, rural and remote Australia, threatening the viability of country post offices and the communities they serve;

(2) recognises that a post office in the regions is not merely a business but an essential community lifeline for pensioners, farmers, small businesses and entire communities;

(3) notes that when a post office closes, residents are left travelling for hours to access basic services, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and those without reliable internet, who bear the greatest burden;

(4) rejects a system that sacrifices essential community services in pursuit of narrow commercial returns, treating regional Australia as an afterthought rather than an integral part of the nation; and

(5) calls on the Government to take immediate and decisive action to secure postal operations in regional and remote Australia by:

(a) demanding Australia Post has a leadership and approach that enable a future for regional Australia, committed to preserving and strengthening essential services in rural, regional and remote communities;

(b) intervening to ensure no regional or remote community is abandoned without reasonable access to essential postal, banking, and face-to-face financial services;

(c) delivering permanent, properly funded arrangements to keep vulnerable licensed post offices operating, including a proposed minimum annual support payment of up to $100,000 for eligible regional, rural and remote outlets;

(d) supporting the expansion of Australia Post's role in delivering essential banking services, including consideration of a publicly backed postal banking model to restore access to financial services in communities abandoned by the major banks; and

(e) further demanding that Australia Post returns to its fundamental obligation to serve all Australians regardless of postcode or commercial profitability and protect the vital role of country post offices in sustaining regional communities.

There were 173,000 people residing in Mayo at the time of the 2021 Census. I have no doubt that we are closer to 180,000 now. Mayo is a rural electorate of more than 9,000 square kilometres. We have 71 Australia Post outlets. There are five corporate post offices; 36 licensed post offices, known as LPOs; and 30 community postal agencies. With very few large centres, those outlets are the beating heart of many of our small towns and hamlets, particularly since the banks have deserted us. A local post office is one of the few essential services that people can access close to home, and it's even more vital for those with unreliable internet access. There is little to no public transport across my community, especially compared to those for people who live in the cities and suburbs. Unfortunately, we have seen the closure, over the years, of a couple of our post offices: Summertown and Verdun.

It has been reported that Australia Post plans to close further LPOs and/or make changes to licensing for regional and rural LPOs. This has raised enormous concern in my community. We've seen from the Post Office Network and Licensed Post Office a reimagined plan. Let me tell you what 'reimagined' means. Reimagined always means closures. It means consolidation, rationalisation and a move to other businesses. There is a real and deep concern in our community that, as the banks deserted us, the post offices will desert us too.

Australia Post reported record highs during the 2025-26 peak season, delivering almost 111 million parcels in the peak November-December period, lifted by increased online purchasing. Rather than developing plans to close and rationalise Australia Post services, the government should task the organisation with the identification of alternative models to best support its regional network. This should include consideration of more sustainable funding arrangements such as the annual support payments for eligible regional outlets, raised by the member for Kennedy.

Further, Australia Post's role in delivering essential banking services for regions must be not only explored but implemented. As the member for Kennedy suggests, there could be consideration of a publicly backed postal model. Postal banking could, as I said, ensure financial services for communities that the banks have left.

I'd also like to see the Australia Post mail delivery poll requirements better delivered so that Australia Post genuinely provides a letter service which is reasonably accessible to all on an equitable basis. Australia Post has previously advised me that it's critically aware of the value and importance of the postal service to Australian communities and of the requirement that a mail service be reasonably accessible to every Australian on an equitable basis, and I want to see this honoured more than just by lip service.

We people who live in the regions already suffer enough. We have fewer health services, we have fewer financial services, and it's all by virtue of postcode. We pay the same amount of tax as every other Australian, and we deserve the same level of services, so I support the member for Kennedy's call to protect this vital service of country post offices sustaining regional communities.

My community is far smaller than the member for Kennedy's, but I know, from my conversations with the member for Kennedy, how vital Australia Post services are to the people of north and west Queensland and how much the member for Kennedy fights for those people and their services every day. We need to ensure that everyone in Australia has equitable service delivery with respect to Australia Post. It really is the lifeblood of so many of our small community towns and must not be allowed to diminish.