Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just over two months ago the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee concluded its inquiry into the performance, importance and role of Australia Post in Australian communities and its operation in relation to licensed post offices. The committee received 213 submissions and 845 letters from LPOs, a fantastic response to an issue affecting every Australian.

There was overwhelming evidence from LPOs of the dysfunctional relationship between Australia Post and its licensees and of the dire financial situation faced by many LPOs. Many expressed a forlorn desire for Australia Post to buy back the licence, indicating that the business decision they had made some years ago—and where often they had invested their life savings into a small business that appeared to have good, solid prospects—was now bleeding to such an extent that they were losing hope of getting back those life savings, let alone making a modest return on their investment.

In this context, it must be recognised that Australia Post is not a private business. Its shareholders are the entire Australian community, and the postal network is woven through the fabric of Australian life. It is a major employer, both directly and indirectly. Australia Post employs almost 36,500 people and engages many more as contractors, franchisees and licensees. As such, it has a major responsibility to its workforce and their families, a responsibility that is intertwined with its core service delivery obligation to provide a letter service that is accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis wherever they may reside or operate a business. Changes to Australia Post and its network will have an impact on our communities and way of life. It is my hope that Australia Post and the government can work with Australia Post employees, unions, contractors, licensees, the printing industry and the community to pave a sustainable footing for our postal network.

I was pleased to serve as deputy chair of the committee for the duration of this inquiry. On behalf of the thousands of stakeholders in the postal industry, I am calling on the government and Minister Turnbull to expedite its response to the committee's report and begin adopting in full the committee's recommendations. The committee worked in a nonpartisan manner and made 18 unanimous recommendations to government. Labor senators also included an additional recommendation with our additional comments that highlighted just one difference between the parties. In making our recommendations the committee sought to provide government and Australia Post with both immediate actions and areas for further review. The implicit goal was that the minister would recognise the urgency required to assist these thousands of small businesses and respond with haste.

Since the conclusion of the committee's inquiry, I have continued to maintain contact with a number of LPOs across the country. The financial situation face by these LPOs and their relationship with Australia Post continues to worsen. The time taken by the government to consider the committee's recommendations and other Australia Post proposals is increasing the uncertainty for these small businesses.

Last weekend I attended a meeting of the Licensed Post Offices Group in Campbell Town, Tasmania. Many licensees from across the state were in attendance and the issues they raised with me mirrored those highlighted to the inquiry that was held over the past year. Their clear message was for responses and actions from government and they asked that Minister Turnbull urgently respond to the committee's recommendations—recommendations prescribed by a committee with a majority of government members, recommendations that relate, in particular, to the viability of small businesses in rural and remote Australia. These are small businesses whose livelihoods are uniquely linked directly to government policy as licensees of a government business enterprise.

At Senate estimates last week I took the opportunity to ask the Managing Director of Australia Post, Mr Ahmed Fahour, how Australia Post is proposing to implement the committee's recommendations. Mr Fahour said:

It is fair to say that the vast majority of the 18 recommendations are clear and actionable and we are in broad agreement with them. It is not up to us as the agency to respond—it is obviously up to the minister to respond—but we will be doing our best with the vast majority of these recommendations and assisting the minister's office to get on with it.

Those listening should take this statement by the managing director as a clear signal that it is the Abbott government and Minister Turnbull that are fully responsible for the price of mail, the quality of the mail service, the viability of the licensees and the employment prospects for Australia Post's workers.

While Mr Fahour and his team have ideas—indeed, while other stakeholders have ideas—each and every one is actioned on the decision of the government of the day. I make this point because over the past week, we have heard from this minister and this government about the impact of their cuts to the ABC and that the allocation of the cuts is all the fault of the ABC management, when, in fact, cabinet and the relevant shareholder ministers have a lot of control over high-level decisions.

At the estimates hearing I also asked specifically about Australia Post's position on a number of the recommendations. I am particularly concerned with a number of responses I received. My first concern is with the response to recommendation 1 from Mr Fahour regarding ACCC oversight of the price of business mail. This response was straight out of the very worst of the 'cutting red tape' playbook. It was the ridiculous mantra that cutting regulation is in itself going to lead to a net welfare improvement and the tying of the removal of oversight and subsequent large increases in the price of mail to Australia Post's financial ability to look after its employees and its licensees. This is emblematic of the way the debate has descended on Australia Post over the past year: that the only solution to the forecast problems is large increases in the price of mail.

The committee's final report clearly outlines the problem with the lack of oversight of business mail. Firstly, the price has increased every year since 2011, with an overall increase of 29 per cent over this short period. Secondly, there has been a fall in demand as the bulk mail price has increased. Thirdly, bulk mail accounts for over 50 per cent of Australia Post's addresses mailbag, and mail houses have introduced systems to facilitate efficient bulk processing by Australia Post, which requires all items to be machine addressed, barcoded and sorted. As such, the committee, which included some strident champions of deregulation on the government side, considered that Australia Post should again be required to notify the ACCC of proposed changes in the price of business mail. The committee's intention for reintroduction of an oversight is, in effect, for Australia Post's own good.

My second concern with Mr Fahour and Australia Post's responses is around consultation, or lack thereof, with stakeholders. In his initial response to recommendation 6, Mr Fahour said:

No. 6—we have just spent a lot of time talking about no. 6 around the engagement program, so let us tick No.6 …

He then moved on. Except recommendation 6 is not about an engagement program that is a one-way conversation across the country. Recommendation 6 requests that the minister create a formal postal network strategy group that engages all stakeholders in the development of a comprehensive strategy to inform changes to the Australia Post network in the face of emerging challenges. The key aspect of this recommendation is for the conversation to be a proper participatory consultation with stakeholders across the mail industry, not listening posts and dinners that are inevitably one-way conversations.

Later in the estimates hearing, I asked Mr Fahour if he had responded to a letter from over two months ago from a group of industry stakeholders called the Coalition of Mail Service Stakeholders. The coalition represents printing and mail house companies, licensed post offices, community groups, retired workers, pensioners, unions covering workers in printing, mail houses and postal services. Mr Fahour's response was that he had not responded to the group as a whole, but sought to have individual conversations with four of the five groups represented. In the days after the hearing, I was contacted by two of the signatories that he claimed to have met with. They said that neither they nor their close colleagues had had any discussion with Australia Post about the contents of their letter.

Right now the licensees and other stakeholders in the industry want a proper conversation about the future of mail in this country. What the LPOs need is the government and Australia Post to sit down and have meaningful discussions with people right across the country about the future of mail delivery. In conclusion, I repeat my call to the minister—which I have also outlined in correspondence—please expedite your response to the committee's report and give the hardworking postal licensees some certainty. (Time expired)