Postal Service Retreat !

At the time of Federation in Australia the post office was the principal means of communication and the purchase price of a stamp ensured that a letter would be delivered for that price anywhere in the country.  That could range from the letterbox of a house in the same street to the most remote village on the other side of the country.

In those early days it was the reliability factor that was important.   The mail travelled by whatever means of transport then existed but the post office had a reputation for integrity.  Eventually, the introduction of air mail shortened that time span and we are now accustomed to our mail bridging the difference between countries in just a matter of hours.

Towards the end of the twentieth century it became glaringly apparent that letter distribution was under stress.  The commercial world was changing its billing practice at the same time that mobile phones and the computer were changing the way we communicated with one another.  The number of letters in the post dropped dramatically - and the price of stamps steadily increased.

That reached its zenith four years ago.  To remain viable the cost of a postage stamp increased from seventy cents - to a dollar.  That increase in billing cost was the incentive for most Australians to embrace other communication methods and the rate of letters processed by the post office is now making the cost of stamp price increases imperative.   It will shortly cost an additional ten cents.

The postal service has found a competitive edge in parcel delivery.  As the letter flow continues to decrease it seems inevitable that eventually letter delivery will be integrated with those vans delivering parcels and we will see the discontinuation of the delivery person calling at each house in every street on a daily basis.  Each letter will then be a courier item and priced accordingly.

It is now apparent that the main user of the postal service is the aged demographic which has not embraced the mobile phone, computer or tablet and which  is stubbornly  resisting direct debit means of paying bills.  The passage of time constantly thins this aged component and postage costs have been discounted for those on an aged pension and for the traditionalists who continue to exchange Christmas cards.   Concession stamps are available at just sixty cents and the Christmas card rate at the end of this year will be set at 65 cents.

Unfortunately, stamp costs impinge on more than just letter delivery.  Many magazines are delivered through the postal service and we are seeing the end of print versions that are being replaced by online versions.  Similar online news distribution is affecting the sale of printed newspapers.  It is inevitable that increased postage costs will result in the commercial world embracing other means of direct personal contact and the letter rate will continue to retreat.

The days of seeing a post person on a motorbike putting mail in your letterbox is fast coming to an end.