Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Post offices play an important role in our communities, especially across Australia's rural and regional communities, where they are places to meet and gather and, most importantly, places where Australians can access basic government and financial services. For those of us who live in the city, post offices are considered part of the landscape—a place to pick up a parcel, to get a passport or even, infrequently, to pay a bill. Soon, for a generation of young Australians they will be a place where they will be able to respond to the big postal survey.

However, for those living in rural and regional communities, licenced post offices are much more; they are often at the very heart of that community. People come to collect their mail but, more importantly, they rely on the services that regional post offices provide. Most importantly, it is often the only place where they can pay their bills and do their banking. It is often the one-and-only place where they can turn up in person with original documents to be certified or to get a passport photo taken.

This is why I was pleased that last week Australia Post announced that the Halls Creek post office, located in the Kimberley region of my home state of Western Australia, has been recognised as one of this year's Australia Post licensee award recipients for its excellence in customer service and post office operations, as well as its contribution not just to the town of Halls Creek but indeed to the whole Kimberley region. I am particularly pleased by the news because it was just two years ago that Halls Creek was faced with the possibility of losing its only licensed post office after numerous issues and complaints over serious delays in the delivery of letters and parcels, restricted and inconsistent opening hours, and customers often waiting in line for over an hour to be served. In February 2016 the Shire of Halls Creek took over the licence, and it was just over a year ago, on 27 May—my mother's birthday, by coincidence—that I cut the ribbon and opened the doors of the new post office with the Shire of Halls Creek president, Mr Malcolm Edwards.

The Halls Creek post office is not only the heart of the local Halls Creek community, allowing the community to access a range of services, including passport services, police checks and other identify checks, it is also, critically, serving as the sole banking facility in the town and for surrounding remote communities like Balgo, Mulan, Billiluna and Ringer Soak.

Having reliable postal and banking services restored in the town of Halls Creek has been a great boost to the community, and I congratulate Halls Creek shire president, Malcolm Edwards, the Shire of Halls Creek itself and its manager, Anthony King, on this outstanding achievement. I'm delighted to have been part of the journey of the Halls Creek licensed post office thus far.