Senate debates

Friday, 12 June 2020

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

Australia Post

3:17 pm

Photo of Susan McDonaldSusan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a very exciting day when you hear the Labor Party rediscover regional Australia, because regional Australians know that they completely forgot about them going into the last election. In fact, I was absolutely delighted to discover that Senator Keneally thinks that Queanbeyan is the heart of regional Australia. As a regional Australian, as a regional Queenslander, I need to let her know that being in Queanbeyan does not mean that you're way out in the sticks. But it is great to know that the Labor Party has rediscovered this essential part of the country! And Senator Carr has continued with that discovery. It's an exciting day for regional Australia to have the Labor Party remember that they exist!

It is always disturbing to hear the Labor Party start talking about facts because they're generally very short on them, and today's facts are a hodgepodge of made-up numbers and scare campaigns. They've absolutely not read the reality of what is going on for Australia, both regional and urban, as a result of COVID-19 and, in addition to that, the change in consumer habits, with people relying more and more on online shopping and parcel deliveries. In fact, parcel volumes were up 64 per cent in April year on year this year, and letter volumes were down 36 per cent in May year on year. I'm sure that Senator Keneally and Senator Carr can both remember the happy days of receiving a handwritten letter in your letterbox, of the joy of tearing open the mail to see what exciting news you'd received from far away, maybe even from regional Australia, but that is, of course, a thing of the past these days. It is less likely that you will receive a handwritten card or note in the mail.

Indeed, even shopping has changed. We had 200,000 new households shopping online for the first time in April this year. Whether it be clothes, books or even food, the delivery of all sorts of products to people's homes has changed the way we live completely because of the very necessary restrictions on movements due to COVID this year. So, in response to Australia Post's requests, the government had to temporarily adjust some elements of the regulations to allow Australia Post to deliver on these changed requirements in this era of COVID. It has given Australia Post flexibility to retrain and redeploy its workforce.

The Morrison government completely rejects Labor's misleading and baseless scare campaign around changes to Australia Post. These changes are not permanent. They are temporary and they are subject to review. There will be no forced redundancies or cuts to posties' take-home pay. Delivery frequency in regional, rural and remote Australia will not change. Licensed post offices are actively supportive of these relief measures. Once again, I, too, am confused by Labor's mixed messages. One moment they think the debt is too high and in the next they think it is too low. It is just another example of the confusion that Labor are in. The Labor Party and the Labor plan were unanimously rejected by Australians right across this country.

I think it's important to acknowledge the flexibility that Australia Post has been able to demonstrate during this time, particularly in their partnership with the Pharmacy Guild to deliver medicines to homes for vulnerable and isolating people. This was available nationally. This was a terrific example of how modern practices were able to change quickly to meet the changing demands of Australians who, unlike other people in this chamber, followed medical advice, stayed home, self-isolated and got Australia through this terrible pandemic by flattening the curve.

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