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AusPost CEO's false testimony understates impact of post office closures

Australian Citizens Party

Key Facts:

• Australia Post CEO Paul Graham told Senate Estimates that Bank@Post is the only banking service in 183 towns, a figure the Australian Citizens Party says is a significant understatement.
• Analysis of APRA data shows that in outer regional, remote, and very remote areas alone, there are 651 locations where Bank@Post is the only banking service, rising to 1,920 when all categories are included.
• Mr Graham has already closed more than 200 post offices and has stated his intention to close over 100 more, with a leaked document suggesting plans to close or convert at least 1,500 further post offices.
• The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into the Australia Post retail network, prompted by the leaked document.
• Citizens Party chairman Robert Barwick has accused Mr Graham of deliberately understating the figures to downplay the impact of post office closures, noting that former CEO Christine Holgate previously cited 1,550 towns as relying solely on Bank@Post.

Australia Post CEO Paul Graham’s claim that Bank@Post is the only banking service in 183 towns is wildly understated.

The Australian Citizens Party, which has long campaigned to save post offices, is accusing Mr Graham of misleading Senate Estimates to understate the impact of his agenda to close post offices.

He has closed more than 200 post offices and openly states his intention to outright close over 100 more to reduce the network to the legislated minimum of 4,000.

The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee is currently holding an inquiry into the Australia Post retail network, triggered by a leaked document showing Mr Graham’s plans to either close, or convert to parcels agents, at least 1,500 more post offices.

The CEO stated his incorrect figure not once but twice in Senate Estimates on 27 May.

“Indeed, in the 183 towns where we are the only banking service in town, we are committed to keeping that banking service”, he assured Senator Sarah Henderson.

“There are 183 towns where we are the only bank in town”, he answered Senator Malcolm Roberts a little later.

The Licensed Post Office Group (LPOG) cited this figure in its submission to the current Senate Environment and Communications Committee inquiry into the Australia Post retail network, which it footnoted to Paul Graham’s testimony.

APRA data

Banking regulator APRA maintains a points of presence database, which also counts the 3,365 post offices that provide the Bank@Post service, including where Bank@Post is the only banking service in a town or suburb.

While analysing the figures can be complicated, because towns and suburbs aren’t automatically comparable, by any definition the number of towns where Bank@Post is the only banking service is many hundreds more than Mr Graham claimed.

Just counting the categories of “Outer regional”, “Remote”, and “Very remote”, there are 651 towns and some suburbs of outer regional cities where Bank@Post is the only banking service.

“Outer regional” includes cities like Townsville, which are not exactly comparable to actual towns, as the drive to the next suburb with a post office is not as long as the drive to the next town.

However, for many vulnerable elderly and disabled people in city suburbs, whether outer regional, inner regional, or even major city, travelling to the next suburb might as well be the next town.

If you include the “inner regional” category, there are 1,179 locations where Bank@Post is the only banking service, and if you add in “major cities”, there are 1,920 towns and suburbs across Australia which rely entirely on Bank@Post for banking.

These figures are wildly different from Paul Graham’s testimony.

Citizens Party chairman Robert Barwick worked on the 2023-24 Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia, and the 2021 Senate inquiry into Australia Post and the removal of Christine Holgate as CEO.

Says Barwick, “It is inexcusable that Mr Graham as CEO of Australia Post is not at least ball-park accurate about a figure that shows how many communities depend on essential banking services through post offices that he is taking away.

“For these towns and suburbs, it is a double-whammy—they only have Bank@Post so they lose postal and banking services at the same time.

“His predecessor Christine Holgate knew the correct figure. She noted in her submission to the 2021 Senate inquiry that 1550 towns relied solely on Bank@Post, to explain why she fought for the 2018 banking deal that saved Bank@Post and post offices.

“Mr Graham has an agenda to close post offices, however, so he is understating the impact.”

About us:

The Australian Citizens Party, established in 1988, is a federally registered political party, committed to economic development policies for Australia.

Contact details:

Robert Barwick, spokesman

[email protected]

Ph: 0409 014 265