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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/02/no-love-for-letters-australia-posts-future-under-review-as-traditional-mail-declines>
"Australia Post is famous for its “we deliver” slogan – but when it comes to
letters, it may soon need to add the caveat “but not as often as we used to”.
The government released a discussion paper on the future of Australia Post on
Wednesday, with question marks once again sitting over its obligation to
provide daily letter deliveries.
The government has not yet made a decision and is instead consulting on the
future of the postal service and seeking input from the public in a review, as
digital technology makes its traditional role as a letter carrier increasingly
obsolete.
Parcel delivery, not traditional letters, has become the linchpin of Australia
Post’s business. There were 66% fewer letters sent in the last financial year
than in 2007-08, when 4.6bn were sent.
Posties delivered 1.6bn letters across Australia last year, and less than 3% of
those were sent by consumers. Businesses and government are the main letter
senders, with people sending 15 a year on average for personal reasons, usually
during birthdays and seasonal holidays such as Christmas.
While letter volumes have declined, delivery points have increased, with new
homes and businesses added to the network. In 2007-08, when letter deliveries
were at their peak, posties were visiting 10.5m premises each day. In 2021-22
that grew to 12.6m delivery points daily – between 175,000 and 220,000 were
added each year as the population grew."
I would absolutely support reducing letter delivery to two or three times a
week, with parcels every day.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
