The Post Office - Decision Time !

The Australian post office network has been a money spinner for the government for many decades.  Not only does it provide an essential service for the public but it delivered a handsome profit each year to bolster the government's bottom line.   It seems that those glory days are coming to a close.

The electronic media is fast replacing the bread and butter issue of people putting postage stamps on letters and having them delivered through the mail system.   It is inevitable that this flow will continue to decline - and with it the profitability of the post offices.   From a practical point of view, change is necessary.

Some countries have reduced costs by changing from a daily mail delivery to a schedule of delivery only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.    This underscores the changed priority accorded to mail items in this different age and it may be extended to the Australian mail system.

Britain has privatised it's post offices on the basis that private industry is more efficient than the public service in achieving profitability.   Putting a price on such a sale will always be contentious and many believe that the government sold the postal service too cheaply.  It's shareholding is now trading at a peak seventy percent higher than it's issue price.

Australians will be very conscious of the disparity between the asking price for government assets and their true value.  When our Commonwealth Bank was privatised it's share offering was at just $ 5.40.   Today, those same shares are listed on the stock exchange around the $ 75 mark.

The biggest headache for the government in taking the privatisation road with the post office system - will be job losses.   The post offices are part of the public service and are subject to the rules that apply to government employment.  It is inevitable that private enterprise will achieve a " do more with less " philosophy - and that means a leaner, meaner work force.

Perhaps our existing network of post offices offers " opportunity " if we apply innovative thinking.  We have in place a desireable network of sales outlets that are well situated to be available to the entire population of the country.    We also have in place a banking system that has been steadily contracting in size until it now is known as " the big four " - and it moves in lockstep with the services it offers.

Could the existing post office system morph into a new savings bank available to the people now that the banks have closed most of their suburban branches, and could those branches also offer services such as insurance, car registration, Medicare refunds - and the assortment of needs now scattered widely ?

The mind numbing equation - is how to achieve that ?   It would probably be impossible under the public service umbrella, but is there any reason why the government could not be - simply a major shareholder with money invested in a public company run under entrepeneureal management ?  Is it not possible to retain a financial interest with no greater management role than other ordinary members of the public who buy shares and expect a return by way of dividends ?   Is it necessary to fully privatise a public asset ?

In this twenty-first century, it seems that all levels of society needs to learn to think outside the proverbial " nine dots " !