Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Teesdale residents in the Corangamite electorate currently must collect their mail from the licensed post office at the general store. Many in the community are crying out for street and roadside mail delivery. The problem is that Australia Post has a very undemocratic way of finding out what residents want. It distributes a survey by hand, and many of these go missing—so if a survey is not returned it is counted as a 'no' vote. This has skewed the result of the two previous mail polls held in Teesdale in Australia Post's favour. The Postal Industry Ombudsman has been very critical of this methodology.

Last week, as a strong local voice for Corangamite I hosted a community meeting in Teesdale. The good news is that Australia Post will hold another mail poll of all 720 homes in the town, commencing on 7 July. After I made representations to CEO Ahmed Fahour, I am pleased that the poll has been delayed and that information will be placed on Australia Post's website so that residents can be better informed. Delivery of voting forms will also be improved—they will be cable tied to fences if someone is not home. However, Australia Post is sticking by its unfair method of surveying residents. This is wrong and unjust to country communities, and needs to change.