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Amy Brooke
There is a sense of outrage growing across the country with people suggesting that New Zealand Post should remove the words New Zealand from its supposed services, as it is increasingly showing little interest in actually supplying decent services to New Zealanders.
This company may have an obligation to operate within its budget but, under Section 4 of the State-Owned Enterprise act of 1986, it is required to show a sense of social responsibility by having regard to the interests of the communities in which it operates.
Many New Zealanders suspect New Zealand Post doesn’t really care about the communities it is meant to serve and provides mealy mouthed statements to this effect. Yes, it has lost a large part of its letter deliveries to email but it has also lost a large part of its business handling parcel deliveries entirely through its own fault. A different CEO could revisit the downgraded, or lack of, service it intends to provide to the public.
There’s a very good argument to be made that it is up to the government of the day to ensure we have a first-class mail system, even if it means taxpayer funding perhaps by diverting some of the multi-million dollar handouts being paid to various Māori interests. It is no wonder so many cash-strapped and genuinely needy causes, such as much-needed cancer treatments, hospitals and mental health services are lacking funding.
And now we have the disgraceful situation where New Zealand Post plans to remove its postal outlets from stores all over the country, while untruthfully claiming that there will still be one available within five kilometres. This is simply not the case.
For example, driving in from north-east Nelson, one travels over the Whangamoa Saddle and reaches the first postal outlet at a Four Square store at Atawhai. Parking is available right outside and the service is excellent. But, despite it being the first postal outlet available after that long trip, New Zealand Post has decided to remove it without any consultation with the local community which is fighting back with a petition.
If the Atawhai outlet is removed, it will be 20 kilometres (a 40-kilometre round trip) into Nelson city itself, where the post shop is crammed inside a Paper Plus fronting the main street. One would then have to find somewhere to park, perhaps a block or so away, pay parking fees and carry parcels, regardless of weather, to join a queue inside the store.
So much for New Zealand Post’s forward thinking – 20 kilometres to post a letter – then 20 kilometres back home. They’re not telling the truth.
If this government agency cannot supply a decent service, then, because reliable postal services are essential for a well-functioning country, there is a good case to be made that the government should subsidise these. We all know what happened when our rail services were privatised. Our roads are now congested with heavy traffic, transporting loads that should be sent by rail which increases the risk of accidents when cars caught behind them try to pass.
The Postal Workers Union has also objected to a punitive practice emanating from the New Zealand Post hierarchy. If New Zealanders innocently address a communication to a firm using its physical street address when the same firm has a Post Office Box, posties have been told to return the letter or parcel to the sender, as it should have been sent to the PO Box. They have been told it would save time doing so… and that they should not readdress it to the PO Box even where this is known.
This is absolute rubbish. Does the sender know why the mail has been sent back? If they think it’s a mistake, they may well send it again to the same address. It has also been pointed out that many people write to parliament addressing letters to MPs using parliament house’s address – unaware there is a private bag number available.
Another decision, in some rural areas, to no longer deliver mail to people’s mailboxes but rather combine deliveries to a central hub some distance away, is an excellent way to encourage mail theft and shows zero concern for the elderly or frail.
Perhaps may be an advantage if unsatisfactory decisions are being made.
It’s high time for the government to step up to the mark by replacing this firm’s current CEO but it will only happen when more New Zealanders throw off their inertia and complain directly to the present Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Simeon Brown who is one of the most able MPs in parliament.
