POSTAL SERVICE – AUSTRALIA

Australia Post to end daily letter deliveries in a bid to avoid losses

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 6-Dec-23

The federal government will announce changes to Australia Post’s community service obligations on Wednesday. The overhaul will result in ordinary letters and unaddressed mail being delivered every second business day in 2024, although parcels, express and priority mail will still be delivered each day. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland says Australia Post’s business structure must reflect the needs of modern consumers; she notes that Australians are receiving fewer letters and more parcels. Australia Post recently booked a loss of $200m for the 2022-23 financial year.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

No going back: AusPost delivers as online shopping takes off

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 11-Jan-21

Australia Post has advised that it delivered a record 52 million parcels during December, which is 20 per cent higher year-on-year. Acting CEO Rodney Boys says the postal service recorded strong growth in parcel deliveries throughout 2020, noting that the structural shift to online shopping is likely to be sustained. Boys adds that Australia Post hired an additional 5,000 people and ramped up its fleet of delivery vans to meet the December rush, and many of the extra resources will be retained. He says it will also bring forward some of its future investment plans.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST

Holgate resigns over Cartier row

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian – Page: 3 : 3-Nov-20

Outgoing Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah is being tipped as a possible replacement for Christine Holgate, after Holgate resigned as Australia Post CEO with immediate effect on 2 November. Holgate’s resignation followed ongoing controversy after she recently told a Senate estimates committee that she had spent almost $20,000 on Cartier watches to reward four Australia Post executives who had secured a $66 million per annum deal with three of the big four banks in 2018. Holgate said she "deeply regretted" the purchase of the watches, conceding that for many that it did not "pass the pub test". Scurrah was on the Australia Post board for almost two years from July 2017, and will step down from Virgin when its sale to Bain Capital is completed at the end of November.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, AUSTRALIA POST, BAIN CAPITAL LLC

Australia Post paralysed

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Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: Online : 2-Nov-20

Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s actions against Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate have led to paralysis within its senior management at a time of year when it is at its most busiest. It is probably in the best interest of those retailers who are relying on Australia Post to fulfill orders at a time when they are trying to recover from the pandemic that Holgate step down from her job. This would enable the Australia Post board to put together a group of existing executives to activate the systems that Holgate has trained them in so as to fulfil those retail orders. Meanwhile, Morrison’s investigation into Australia Post should focus on its board, which represents its biggest weakness.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA POST

Australia Post chair to front Senate inquiry

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 27-Oct-20

Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo has been asked to appear before a special Senate estimates hearing on 13 November. The call for Di Bartolomeo to appear at the special hearing came as the terms of reference for an inquiry into the purchase of expensive watches for senior Australia Post executives were released by the federal government. Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate, who purchased the watches, has stood aside during the investigation, while John Stanhope, who was chairman of Australia Post at the time Holgate bought the watches, says he will co-operate with the inquiry.

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AUSTRALIA POST

Red card for postal boss

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 23-Oct-20

Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate will stand aside pending the outcome of an investigation into revelations that four senior executives were rewarded with luxury watches. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ordered the independent review after Holgate told a Senate estimates committee that the Cartier watches – which cost $3,000 each – were given to the executives for securing the Bank@Post deal with three of the major banks. Holgate contended that taxpayers’ money had not been used as Australia Post is a commercial business. Some Coalition MPs have called for Holgate to resign, while the Communications Union’s national secretary Greg Rayner says Australia Post’s entire board should step aside.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMUNICATIONS, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, ENERGY, INFORMATION, POSTAL, PLUMBING AND ALLIED SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Australia Post held up comp claims

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Original article by Aaron Patrick, David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 3-Apr-19

Comcare will review Australia Post’s personnel files over the next three years after an investigation found that Australia Post breached its obligations under workers’ compensation rules in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The investigation, conducted by Australia Post at the request of the Safety, Rehabilitation & Compensation Commission, found that Australia Post managers delayed the processing of workers’ compensation claims in order to meet performance targets. The Comcare review is to ensure that there is no repeat of these activities.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, COMCARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. SAFETY, REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION COMMISSION

New chief postie to get half the pay of her predecessor

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 4 : 28-Jun-17

Australia Post’s incoming CEO Christine Holgate will receive a base salary of $A1.375m when she takes the helm in October. She will also be entitled to performance bonuses, although her remuneration will be well below that of current CEO Ahmed Fahour. Holgate’s salary as CEO of Blackmores is around $A3m, and she says the issue of pay had not been raised in her discussions with Australia Post’s board. Chairman John Stanhope says Holgate was the "outstanding candidate" among those considered for the role.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, BLACKMORES LIMITED – ASX BKL, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, COLLINGWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Australia Post workers compo ‘rort’

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Original article by Aaron Patrick
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 30-Nov-16

A former Australian Post workers’ compensation manager has alleged that some 38 per cent of its 36,743 employees have claimed such compensation. The ex-manager says workers’ compensation fraud is rife within the postal service, and that the company would be profitable if it cracked down on such practices. The former manager also claims that Communications, Electrical & Plumbing Union official Jim Metcher was responsible for Australia Post abandoning a proposed push to reduce the cost of its workers’ compensation scheme.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, COMMUNICATIONS, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRONIC, ENERGY, INFORMATION, POSTAL, PLUMBING AND ALLIED SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, COMCARE AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. SAFETY, REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION COMMISSION, CARROLL AND O’DEA

Australia Post hopes $1-a-letter strategy can avoid loss

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Feb-15

Australia Post has reported a 2014-15 interim profit of $A98m, which is 56 per cent lower than previously. Its letters division made a loss of $A151m for the half-year, and Australia Post has forecast a group loss for the full year, which would be its first since 1982. CEO Ahmed Fahour has stressed the need for regulatory reform to ensure that its letters division is viable. Australia Post wants to adopt a two-tiered pricing structure for mail deliveries

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS, JAPAN POST, TOLL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TOL, SINGAPORE POST PTE LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COURIERS PLEASE, DHL CORPORATION, DEUTSCHE POST AG, UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INCORPORATED, FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION, TNT