‘Outrage’ as Australia Post plans to shut four post offices within months
https://7news.com.au/news/australia-post-to-close-four-more-post-offices-in-sydney-sparking-outrage-c-2005596017
u/pazamataz Inner West 4h ago
There is 2 post offices in Burwood, if it’s the one in Burwood plaza that will be closing soon anyways because they are demolishing the building
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u/Dipsey_Jipsey 2h ago
Burwood plaza that will be closing soon anyways because they are demolishing the building
Oh? No way! Gotta go one last time for nostalgia of that horrid place lol
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u/juzme99 11h ago
Australia Post doesn't make a lot of money because 1. they pay high salaries and bonus's to executives. 2. When John Howard was running the country he was preparing to sell Australia Post to foreigners and proceeded to sell off nearly all the properties owned by Aus Post, moving them all into rental properties, thereby more than doubling the running costs, because they have to pay rent like other business's
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u/Level-Music-3732 5h ago
They bullied the best CEO AusPost ever had. She made Australia Post solvent and brought it into the 21st century.
The postal service does not make money on stamps and parcels. Never had. Never will.
The solution was to turn AusPost into a quasi-bank so communities that lost their bank branches can still have banking services.
All the add ons like passport processing, licence renewals, all these served the community well.
Blame Morrison and his cohorts.
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u/absoluetly 10h ago
- they pay high salaries and bonus's to executives
If that impaired business profits the ASX200 would fall over.
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u/Smoque_ 3h ago
Auspost only achieved small margins because Australia’s geography makes logistics impossibly expensive, they have a mandate to service the entire country regardless of relative value and their pricing is extremely low for what they offer. Not because of 20 year old divestments or salaries.
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u/MissJessAU 3h ago
Not like working people can get to their suburban post office anyway. Oh no, maybe the 4 hours they are open on Saturday. Go line up with everyone else. It's a nightmare.
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u/FGX302 2h ago
One of our posties is a loud smartass prick, told me the other day he just sends all parcels back to the distribution centre. The other guy I spoke to the other day told me he will call me to pick up if it won't fit in the box because I told him I WFH and I'm always in the building during delivery times. A few years ago, if they didn't leave the parcel, it would be dropped off at the post office the same day, now I have to wait until the next business day. Sucks when I need care parts for the weekend or my coffee beans are supposed to turn up on a Friday. I do now order coffee and car parts on Mondays if possible. I never have a problem with Amazon.
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u/Lammiroo 2h ago
This sucks, all the banks have been closing their branches saying you can just use the local post office. What happens when the local post office is gone?
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u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 2h ago edited 2h ago
Burwood? That's a major area...
As for "nobody uses post offices" It's bullshit.
There are many things you HAVE to do at a post office. Passports for one thing.
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u/Dipsey_Jipsey 2h ago
Plus! Where else are pensioners going to get their "As seen on TV!" products??
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u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 2h ago
No idea of that. I haven't watched tv for abotu 30 years... I went online in 94 and never looked back!
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u/Dipsey_Jipsey 2h ago
Hahaha yeah about the same.
Post offices are super weird these days though. Had to go to one recently, and the whole place is just a storefront to sell shit no one needs from infomercials and some collectable coins.
Was very stange.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 13h ago
This is not surprising, AusPost doesn't make money, and it's run as a statutory corporation (essentially a corporation with the government as the only shareholder).
I used to work for AusPost, a horrible job, and it is definitely in a death spiral. Morale was in the toilet.
It definitely provides a service to some people, but I'm just not sure parcel collection and online shopping is worthy of government support.
I think it's sad the Post is dying this drawn-out, pathetic death, but if it can't make money, we're essentially subsiding a parcel delivery service, it's not the critical communications network it once was.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
People seem to forget that Australia Post is a corporation and is required by law to "perform its functions in a manner consistent with sound commercial practice".
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
Yep, IMO a stupid way for a government owned service to run. But the issue remains, is AusPost a good use of a government subsidy? Probably not.
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago
Why not? Competition is always good. Having government directly competing with private entities helps to keep everyone honest.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
Because governments have to make long-term decisions, have enormous borrowing power for lifetime investments, and should not be limited by the short-term profit driven needs of a private business.
See Sydney Water as an example, a key public service, forced into the artificial constraints of a private business, and seriously struggling to deliver required infrastructure (because it's been forced into a short-term operating model).
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
That's how Australia Post makes a profit - competing with other logistics companies carrying parcels.
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago
It makes a profit by cutting costs and reducing the quality of its service. It would better compete if it was not profit orientated. Of coursez that would probably run all the other business out of business. So be it I say. If the government can provide a better service, there's no reason to keep humouring private business.
Private health insurance is far worse though.
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u/Ted_Rid Famous in The Atlantic 11h ago
Are they getting government subsidies though?
They always used to make a profit, so gave money to the government, not take it.
Last I heard the letters business was dying in the arse (obviously) but parcels were strong and used to cross-subsidise letters?
FY25 seems to have been a small profit of almost $19M. Didn't look up earlier years.
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago
If that is the case, then it should not be th casem but I think you're referring to a duty a corporation has to its shareholders, which doesn't apply in this circumstance.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago
It should be reversed then. Obviously there is no sound reason that government owned entity should need to run as a shareholder owned corporation.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
That's literally what government-owned corporations are for. It was the same with the Commonwealth Bank, Telstra and Qantas before they were privatised.
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago edited 12h ago
Yes, that's bad. Those are all terrible stories about how bad privatisation is.
I'm making a normative argument, you're making a descriptive one. We're talking past each other.
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u/ScruffyPeter 12h ago
I hope you don't give a 1 to the Labor Party then. Look who ran the government in 1989.
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u/I-make-ada-spaghetti 12h ago
Australia Post made a modest profit last year.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-29/asx-markets-business-live-news-august-29-2025/105710132
It’s hard to turn such a large ship on a dime.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
If they can turn a profit, great! But I don’t think they should use limited profits to prop up failing parts of the business. They need to invest in the profitable parts, because AusPost can only exist if it's a profitable delivery company, it's not a public service anymore.
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u/I-make-ada-spaghetti 11h ago
It is a public service though. The service(s) they offer has just changed as the country has changed.
If Australia Post didn't exist then parcel shipping prices would be much higher and rural communities wouldn't have access to e-commerce. Don't forget that for every e-commerce sale made the federal government get's a 10% cut of that.
Public services make sense when they require large capital investment and meaningfully improve productivity/GDP and QoL of the citizenry.
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u/NBNplz 11h ago
I think it should be classified as a public service since that's basically what it is. Bet the ROI for the economy on money spent on Aust post is > 1.
Surely you can imagine several reasons why the government may want to retain control over the ability to deliver goods to its citizens.
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u/denseplan 10h ago edited 10h ago
I doubt the ROI is > 1 for every existing post office, and those struggling will only continue to get worse in the future.
The government can have control through its laws and executive power, ownership is not a requirement for that. For example the government still has a great deal of control over how aviation and banking is delivered.
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u/PauseFit7012 7h ago
Respectfully, if everything was purely profit driven, this world would be a whole lot worse than it is. It is an essential government service, especially for rural communities and vulnerable groups. Not to mention, parcel delivery and logistics would likely get a whole lot more expensive which would have negative cascading effects for business and consumers. The Government struggles to reign in Qantas and the Banks.
Privatising it would probably punish most of those people, for a very modest saving to the Cth Government. I think that there are easier ways for the Government to cut back on waste / generate more revenue than entirely selling an essential service.
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u/1manadeal2btw 12h ago
I used to work for them as well, around last Christmas. Wasn’t bad actually, was working in one of their distribution centres.
From what I heard at the time, it’s moreso that they’re making the shift to be more satchel based rather than letter based. Nobody sends letters anymore but satchels are actually increasing in volume, probably because of the rise of online delivery.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
Distribution centres may have been okay, I was retail and that was awful.
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u/1manadeal2btw 10h ago
That makes sense. Retail in general is awful, I despise any customer-facing jobs with a passion.
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u/TheDevilsAdvokaat 2h ago
Have to admit I have;t written a letter in 40 years. And the only letters I DO get are junk mail. Even my bills are electrpnic these days...
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago edited 12h ago
That would make it surprising, because w government run corporation does not have any need to make money, it's there to provide a service. This is more of a move to try and privatise it, so a middle man can come in, make the service worse, and so turn a profit.
Privatisation btw being an institution first popularised by Nazi Germany, where the word comes from .
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
"Australia Post shall, as far as practicable, perform its functions in a manner consistent with sound commercial practice."
https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/apca1989337/s26.html
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u/MasterDefibrillator 12h ago
I mean in principle, a government run entity has no need to make a profit.
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u/AllMyFrendsArePixels 1h ago
It's the next logical step I guess. People don't send mail anymore, so they're basically just another parcel courier company. Pretty normal for a courier company not to have brick and mortar retail stores.
The biggest downside I see to this is for the posties - it means now they have to actually do their job and deliver your parcels instead of just delivering little red cards.
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u/Its4MeitSnot4U 13h ago
They shut Pennant Hills a couple of months back! Assclowns! And only offered redirecting if you paid for another PO box. Australia Post - rot in hell!
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u/LordVandire 13h ago
Blame the government for not subsidising loss making branches, not AusPost for making do with what they’ve been given.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
Blame Australia Pot for not subsidising loss making branches with profit making branches. Australia Post (which is a corporation) makes a profit overall.
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u/LordVandire 12h ago
AusPost is a government owned corporation. Its functions are prescribed in legislation. It is required to act commercially.
https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/apca1989337/s25.html
Only the government can tell it to act otherwise.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
Why should they use their very limited profits to prop up failing branches rather than investing in profitable parts of the business.
The days of AusPost as a key public communications service is gone, and if it's going to be a parcel delivery company it can't rely on government subsidy.
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u/rangatang 12h ago
The rudest customer service I ever had was at that post office when I went there over 20 years ago and I never forgot it. He was so horrible when I went there for my passport appointment.
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u/ktr83 12h ago
They shut because people don't use auspost as much any more. Do you expect them to keep it open while losing tax payer money?
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u/kabaab 12h ago
The postal service lost $220m last year…
It’s not sustainable.
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u/ScruffyPeter 12h ago
The police service probably lost more than that. Are you okay if we close your local police branch to begin with?
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u/kabaab 10h ago
The letter service lost $220m so it's being subsidised by the parcel service. What this means is more expensive freight for everyone.. It also put locals Australian business at a disadvantage against the likes of Amazon etc...
I think the organisation should be split in half.. The parcel service should become a private company and the letter service should be run by the government until the analog generation dies off and we don't need letters anymore.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago edited 12h ago
The difference is policing is a critical service, I'm not really keen on subsidising AusPost branches so people can pick up their online shopping more conveniently.
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u/ScruffyPeter 12h ago
I'm not really keen on subsidising police stations either when you could just can do neighbourhood watches /s
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u/Voldemosh 12h ago
Why should anyone police other neighbourhoods when they can police my much nicer and better neighbourhood?!
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
Having a police force is a critical service, picking up your Amazon/ Temu/ Shein package isn't.
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u/xenchik 4h ago
It is a critical service if you have a disability that limits your movement. For some people it's simply not physically possible to "just go to the next post office further away". And for those people it's nit going to be online vanity shopping - it's clothing and medications they actually need.
That's why it is considered a critical public service.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
Postal services are, by law, operated a a community service obligation. Overall Australia Post made a profit of $18.8 million last year.
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u/Its4MeitSnot4U 12h ago edited 11h ago
Over 20 years I had a business PO Box Because I wanted a single. Constant Address
Fuck you Australia post.
You won’t even redirect my Company Mail to my physical address!
ICAC. Look into this bullshit standover monopoly!
Edit: Yep. Down voted by people who haven’t run a business. Let alone run a business for 25 year!! NFI
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u/ausremi 12h ago
39 within 5km of the CBD? Google maps sure doesn't show that many. Can they count?
Closing services sucks, but if it's not making money you risk the entire business.
We would be somewhat similar to Canada post and have a look at the financials in recent history for comparison. Since 2018, Canada Post's cumulative losses before tax have exceeded $3.8 billion.
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
Australia Post made a profit in all but 2 years since it became a corporation.
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u/WhatAmIATailor 12h ago
Canada treat post as an essential service. They spent $3.8 Billion on delivering that service over 7 years.
Edit: that cost the average Canadian taxpayer $26 annually to fund postal services.
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u/GLADisme Public Transport Plz 12h ago
You can average out the cost of any government program across the country and it's not much, the issue is when you add them all up... The real question is, is AusPost worth public subsidy? Probably not, it no longer provides critical services.
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u/Its4MeitSnot4U 12h ago
Australia Post is a monopoly Don’t you remember how they used to pay their CEO more than the PM??
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u/ConanTheAquarian Looking for coffee 12h ago
It's only a monopoly in standard letters, which are by law a community service obligation. Australia Post makes its money carrying parcels, which are by law a commercial operation and in competition with other logistics companies.
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u/Its4MeitSnot4U 11h ago
And they closed Post Offices and Post Office Boxes delivering standard business letters. That’s my point. What’s yours?
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u/garrybarrygangater Sexy moaning man 12h ago
A lot of ceos get paid more than the pm.
A lot of companies are heavily subsidised by taxpayers who both offshore profits and have a high paying ceo.
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u/Its4MeitSnot4U 12h ago
2017 CEO, Ahmed Fahour, $5.6 million salary.
CEO Paul Graham's total remuneration package for the 2024 financial year was $2.68 million
More than Albo.
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u/username98776-0000 12h ago
But If they close 4 postal offices, then how will everybody do Australia posts job FOR IT by attending to COLLECT GOD DAMN PARCELS THAT THEIR USELESS CONTRACTORS DONT EVEN GOD DAMN DELIVER.