James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to raise the deep concerns in my electorate about the closure of Australia Post post offices. In particular, recently we have been informed that the Campbelltown Post Office is closing. There is a lot of curiosity about the way in which that was announced. The way the community was informed, via correspondence from Australia Post, led us to believe it was to do with the landlord not being prepared to renew the lease on that post office. But that turns out not to be quite correct. The landlord was very happy to have the lease continue on, but Australia Post indicated they only wanted to enter into some kind of temporary, month-by-month arrangement, and so the landlord, quite reasonably, wasn't prepared to accept those terms.

What that indicates to me is that Australia Post were always intending to close the Campbelltown Post Office and weren't therefore prepared to lock into a long-term lease. If that's the case, they should come clean with my community and explain that decision, not pretend that it was some issue of negotiation with the landlord. The Campbelltown Post Office is vitally important to the people of Campbelltown. Campbelltown is a significant suburb. The local council is named after that suburb, and the suggestion that they won't have their local post office is a real blow to the community. There is a secret agenda here to shut post offices without properly explaining why, and Australia Post should come clean on it.