I rise to speak on the motion on postal services put by the member for Kennedy. I first want to acknowledge what the member for Kennedy has said about the decline of postal and banking services in regional and rural Australia and how important these institutions are to our local communities out there. In regional and rural Australia, post offices become hubs for the community activities. They support small local economies around them, and people rely on them for connection. I also acknowledge the stress and the hardship that the closure of a post office can cause in a regional community.

But I also want to say that post office closures in metropolitan Sydney cause considerable angst. A year ago we saw the Kingsgrove Post Office close without any community consultation after the Rockdale Post Office also closed. People from across the Kingsgrove community wrote to me because they were pretty angry about the closure and wanted to know why no-one had been consulted. I understand that Australia Post has to make some commercial decisions. In fact, I know it makes some of these decisions so that it can keep regional post offices open. I understand there is little point in maintaining collection of post offices within 10 minutes of each other in metropolitan Sydney when more resources have to go and should go into maintaining regional post offices often hundreds of kilometres apart.

But the point is that these decisions are often made without community consultation. While the figures might show that a post office does not have enough people coming through the door, in reality, it is the quality of these interactions that makes all the difference. It might be the only post office within walking distance of a densely populated area. It might be surrounded by elderly residents who depend on it for banking services. It might employ someone who speaks a second language. In a community like mine, people who speak that language know they can go there for assistance. None of that is necessarily reflected in the bare numbers on the books.

I am therefore very pleased that my petition to stop the closure of our postal services was heard by Australia Post. There is now a community consultation obligation whenever Australia Post considers closing a post office, and that gives the community an opportunity to explain why that post office is important and why it should remain open. I want to reaffirm my commitment to the people of Barton. Wherever there is a service closure, including when an organisation such as Australia Post closes its doors, I want to hear about it from you first. I want to help you advocate, and I want to make sure that the services you need remain in our local community.

I say to the member for Kennedy that I appreciate his advocacy and what this motion seeks to achieve. While I do not agree with all the actions listed in the motion, I agree that we need to keep our finger on the pulse of Australia Post. We need to continue working with Australia Post to find innovative ways to improve its long-term sustainability and to keep services in the regions, and reforms must be transparent, inclusive and collaborative. I do not want to have to run another petition every time Australia Post makes a mistake. It should identify these risks and make changes before harm occurs, because it has a community service obligation. Australia Post serves the community—not profit, not the salaries of its leaders. The community should be front of mind whenever it makes a decision about postal services.

This government is committed to getting the balance right between the financial sustainability of Australia Post and the needs of the communities it serves. But we need to work together to get there. My door is always open. Australia Post belongs in the hands of everyday Australians, and I'm so committed—as is this government—to keeping it that way.