Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Although Australia Post does not need any more bad news these days, I would like to raise the issue of the approach of Australia Post to services within postcode 6065, which goes from Wanneroo down to Hepburn Avenue, including the significant growth in recent years in the suburbs of Darch, Madeley and Lansdale. There are post offices in postcode 6065. However, we are talking about the needs of local people, and Australia Post certainly does make mention of them in a recent letter to me where they say they will continue to monitor their facilities in this area against the requirements of the local community to ensure that their services match changing needs. That is basically what Australia Post said to me in response to a request for a street posting box, a red postbox, in the area of Darch near a seniors village.

So Australia Post say that they are very keen to make sure that their services match the needs of the local community, yet we have not seen any favourable reaction from Australia Post when we have submitted petitions. We have not seen consideration of the needs of local people with regard to the Wanneroo Post Office as to whether it needed to be moved from its current location, with its access issues, to the new shopping centre 150 metres away. We have not seen any great reaction there. We have not seen a reaction to petitions to do with street posting boxes in Darch and in Madeley. I wonder whether we will see a reaction to the petition that is being raised in Darch for a licensed post office to be established there. Also there has certainly been no reaction to the petition that was raised for a licensed post office in Lansdale. Given that Australia Post say they will continue to monitor their facilities against the requirements of the local community, I ask how they are going to determine what the needs of the local community are if they refuse to acknowledge petitions favourably. If the people are saying these are the needs of the local area, why does Australia Post say they will monitor the needs of the local area but then ignore petitions, so ignoring what the people actually want on the ground? Maybe a lot of Australia Post’s problem is that they seem to be out of touch with what local people need. It might be all very well for some areas to have their post boxes at every 500 metres, but in the outer suburbs of Perth there is a need for far better services, and it is time that Australia Post started listening to people when it counts. (Time expired)