Proof Committee Hansard - SENATE - The ‘ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION COMMITTEE’

Senator DAVID POCOCK: Thank you for your time this evening. Mr Graham, I think it was on 20 September that I wrote to you to raise concerns about things I've been hearing from Norfolk Islanders. This morning I received a response from Kristina Hickey, your general manager of government, industry and regulatory affairs. It was very good timing, on the day of estimates. One of the concerns that repeatedly gets raised is there's confusion when Norfolk Islanders are being sent mail, because you now have to put 'New South Wales' and a New South Wales postcode. Clearly it's nowhere near New South Wales. I've raised this a couple of times, and the response—and I thank you for it—basically says it's too hard to do. I'm wondering why we can't find a solution for Norfolk Islanders, or any of the external territories, to have their proper address on our national postal service.
Mr Graham: I think the first time we met we also discussed that. I think 1865, from memory, was the postcode that would be ideal for Norfolk Island, or any other postcode designated specifically—

Senator DAVID POCOCK: From talking to Norfolk Islanders, the big one is 'New South Wales'. They used to have post sent to 'South Pacific', and that's no longer the case.

separate country for some strange reason. We are certainly engaging with those retailers to explain and educate them about Norfolk Island.
We'll continue to explore it, but under the current policies that we have it is a very difficult thing for us to change. There is no designated postcode for 'Pacific Islands' or 'Pacific'. We'd have to create a whole new set of criteria for that. That is not an easy process in our systems or network, but we will continue to look for ways in which we can satisfy Norfolk Island in relation to their desire to not have a New South Wales postcode or indeed have their mail addressed to New South Wales. We are aware of the sensitivities.
On the issue of getting products to them—I know that also comes up from time to time—we are aware that we are in peak season. We already have all the barges booked and available. We also have a charter flight that we will send in, depending on the volume that we get.
But, on the postcode, I'll take that on notice again. The team did look at every which way that we could justify an exception. But that is a very difficult thing for us to do because once we grant one it leaves the door open for many others, unfortunately.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: So, if new suburbs are built in the cities, you can't give them a new postcode?
Mr Graham: We do give them a new postcode, but it's attached to the state. Therefore, if there's a new suburb in the west of Sydney, it would be 2068, for example, New South Wales. The issue with Norfolk Island is that it's got a '2' postcode and it's designated as 'New South Wales', when it's not physically part of New South Wales. Norfolk Islanders are not happy with that designation.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: No, they're not. A related concern—and it's a massive frustration for Norfolk Islanders—is that a lot of family who live here in Australia try to send them things at post shops, which say: 'No, we can't take this. You can't send something to Norfolk Island with a New South Wales postcode.'
Mr Graham: I haven't heard that experience, and that's certainly not the case.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: I've had a number of emails with that, so I'm just—
Mr Graham: If you'd like to share those with us, we will look into them. We have a significant volume going to Norfolk Island, as I say, on the basis that we'll put an air charter in play for the Christmas peak. We'll continue to look at it. I can assure you that it's not something we're ignoring or paying lip service to. But it is a difficult issue because, as a government agency, business enterprise, once we set a precedent unfortunately we'll then have a lot of other people knocking on our door trying to justify why they need a postcode change—the largest one, as I say, being people who want their postcode changed for insurance purposes. Therefore, it becomes more sensitive than maybe you would first expect. But we certainly take the views of the Norfolk Islanders to heart and will continue to try and explore options for that.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: I take your point. But there's surely a big difference between Norfolk Islanders, who are a thousand-plus kilometres off the coast, and some sort of insurance gerrymandering. They seem very different.
Mr Graham: They may be, but in running a GBE we have a set of policies and processes that we have to apply, and we have to apply these on a fair and balanced basis to all Australians. There may be people who will come out and say that because of that exception that we made for Norfolk Island they also justify an exception. It may be stretching a long bow, but we have had experience in other areas where that has been the case.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: On the point of 'fair and balanced for all Australians', I understand there is no guarantee around express post. But in the letter Ms Hickey advises, 'Our general guidelines are to allow up to 20 business days for the delivery of express post items and up to 12 weeks for the delivery of non-express services.' If you send something express, waiting 20 days is a fair while. I know you have been working on this, but are there ways to make it more express than 20 days?
Mr Graham: Yes, it's certainly the case, and as you say express doesn't make for a fast service. That time frame to Norfolk Island is unique because of the uplift. We do not have a plane service on a consistent basis or every day. We have brought back our express post service standards now that we are well past COVID, so they should be in place. The notation of the days is conservative, and it does apply particularly to Norfolk Island, but we will look at what would be the average number of days. I think it would be significantly less than that, and we will provide that to you. It is also important to continue to educate Norfolk Islanders on the best ways to send products through Australia Post and the options they have, both those that would see them guaranteed a delivery of either mail or parcels within a set time frame and those that would provide cheaper and longer options, but at least to give them a choice to make the decision.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: Do you send express post in Australia using Qantas?

Mr Graham: We have explored it both in terms of the formal processes we have and the informal processes we have. It is a difficult one, not so much around the designation of Norfolk Island or some other territory; the actual changing of a postcode for any reason becomes a challenge for us. We do get a lot of requests to change postcodes, primarily for insurance purposes, where insurers will set the cost of insurance based on the postcode you're in. But we have explored options in relation to changing that. I know there's also some difficulty with some of the online retailers, who don't classify Norfolk Island as part of Australia or indeed have it classified as

Mr Graham: We have a partnership with Qantas. We own our own aircraft fleet, so a lot of it goes on our own planes. We use the belly capacity in the Qantas domestic fleet as well.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: It has been pointed out to me by a few Norfolk Islanders that there are probably three Qantas flights a week, yet they are waiting 20 days for someone to send something from Sydney to Norfolk Island. Is there a possibility of getting stuff on a weekly flight?
Mr Graham: Again, I will take that on notice, but I would say that we have mail in every one of those flights. But we consolidate that post in Port Macquarie, so it has to make its way around the network and then gets consolidated in Port Macquarie so we can uplift that in one loop. What we can do is provide more information to people in Norfolk Island around the service commitments that they can expect based on Western Australia, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, and also help educate them on the way that that mail gets routed through our network so that they can understand the time lag that's appearing in certain cases. But certainly, if it is an express product, we should be able to find a way to ensure it gets there in fewer than 20 days. I take your point.
Senator DAVID POCOCK: It is