Restore the New Zealand Post Office

One of the problems facing the Postal System is the New Zealand Government's inconsistent communications policies and how the various State Departments and Agencies are collectively undermining the Postal system whilst propping up technology Companies and Private Postal operators.

The de-regulation of the Postal Sector has caused to undermine New Zealand Post. Back in 1999 standard letters cost $0.40 a stamp,. This was controlled by the Public Contract and part of that emphasized the provision of 6 day a week mail deliveries. The other part required the retention of the Post Shop network. Opening the letters business up to competitors has pulled the rug on the State Postal operation. It is partly to blame for where we are today with a Postal system that has been significantly butchered in recent years.

However another reason for the decline of Posted Mail Volume has to do with the largest traditional customer the New Zealand Government, having inconsistent communications policies that do not protect or maintain the interests of the Public. The Public are faced with the dilemma of different Departments with their own communications policies and their own providers. There is no overall unified policy.

The Public rely on the essential communications of Government Departments and Agencies. These Departments and Agencies are forcing the public to use the internet or 0800 telephone numbers. The Departments and Agencies are removing Physical Postal Mail communications, expecting everyone to be able to use or to access the internet. The Departments and Agencies are removing universally accessible communications and replacing it with inferior systems. In the case of the internet it requires those with special knowledge or money to be able to access email communications Letters are universal. Emails are not. As the State is meant to provide services to all citizens, its communications policies need to be geared to serving everyone, rather than a select few. Hence the need for posted letters.

The New Zealand Government and its Departments and Agencies should all be backing up the State Owned NZ Post system to the hilt. If that were the case then NZ Post mail volumes would stabilize at a sustainable level thus ensuring that an affordable universal postal system remained in place for the next 200 years.

The New Zealand Government itself is to blame for undercutting its own Postal Business.

In Tambo, in the State of Queensland Australia, one lady has saved the local Post Office from closure.

Would you take over an outback post office on the brink of closure? Ashlee did just that Ashlee Gray never thought she'd run a post office at age 27, but her decision to buy one with her family has saved her community from losing its local store.

We were sad to learn of the passing of Merril J Fernando recently. Merril founded the ethical Tea plantation and production business Dilmah Tea in Shri Lanka. Our condolences to his family and associates on his passing.

Many is the time i enjoy a cup of Dilmah whilst writing letters and sealing same and placing the stamp on the envelopes. Infact a little wrinkle for you sent in by a supporter of the New Zealand Post Office. Whilst relaxing with a cup of tea, and putting the stamps on your envelopes, dip the end of your finger just lightly in the tea to get it wet, to enable you to dampen the back of the stamp. A good idea, and it works. Sent in by a supporter with the mysterious pen name of "TEABAGS".

Another legend lost. 💔

Kiwibank when established in 2002, was intended to be the Peoples Bank. It was intended to be the Bank that had a physical Branch Network in 300 locations operating through the convenience of the NZ Post Shops. It was intended to be the bank aimed at communities who had been badly disadvantaged by the Big Banks all of whom had closed branches, and pulled back service, and left communities and vulnerable people stranded with only an ATM Machine and an 0800 Number. Those large banks were Australian owned and were reaping huge profits by providing a banking system that offered very little service. It commanded and controlled its customers, through having swallowed up most of the New Zealand owned banks, it dominated Savings and Mortgages. This was the situation in 1999 after 9 years of National and before that, two Terms of Labour, both Parties having gone done the pathway of laissez Faire Free Market Policies to the extent that they allowed the Banking system to become dominated by the Australian owned heavyweights. It created a situation in which basic banking infrastructure had been removed from communities and the people were slaves to the big banks. Thus when Labour and the Alliance came to power as a coalition, Jim Anderton fought hard for the establishment of Kiwibank within NZ Post, which would bring back over the counter banking services to Communities up and down the Country. It would also offer lower fees, thus undercutting the big banks. The Big Banks did not like this. Kiwibank was an Instant hit that attracted all those people who had been badly done by the Australian owned Banks. For a time, the tide had turned against the Big Banks. For a limited time. Because after Labour Lost power in 2008 NZ Post and Kiwibank began the slow path to the eventual sorry situation we have now. Communities without Bank Branches and reduced Postal Services. The Kiwibank of today, is not what its founders had in mind. Kiwibank today is little better then the big Australian owned banks, Though Kiwibank is still State Owned, it has closed its branches, because it is run by the same greedy mindset as what the Big Australian Banks had back in the 1990s. Kiwibank delivers its profits to the New Zealand Government. But rather than use its control of the Bank to function as what it was intended, the Government is happy to sit back and allow Kiwibank to emulate the Big Aussie Banks, closing branches and forcing customers to use the Internet or 0800 telephone numbers. It is simply not good enough. However the situation has been spurred on by NZ Post closure of its Post Shop network and piggy backing on various small local busineses. These Busineses now handle the Postal Side. However Kiwibank is nowehere to be seen apart from the odd ATM. Kiwibank has itself become part of the problem, rather than being the solution. National is hardly likely to change that situation. However a Party like NZ First if it can reach enough per centage of the Party Vote may be the one and only chance, to bring back the Kiwibank of old. They might even bring back the NZ Post Shops. Which would be a bonus. It makes sense having a bank and Post Shop working as one.

NZ Post are saying they will now lay off 750 Mail Staff. Imagine how slower the Postal Service will be with fewer staff, in fewer sorting depots, with fewer Posties, and increased stamp Prices. Unfortunately it is, what it is, all part of the deliberate destruction of the Postal System so as to force everyone, whether they like it or not, onto using the Internet through the removal of other options.

Kiwis are incredibly frustrated by the removal of banks and government agencies and replacement of same with those services hiding behind the wall of the internet and 0800 telephone numbers. Increasingly public services are inaccessible. The present Government continued the same line as the previous Governments since the time of the Key Led National Government. Government agencies and services closing shop, and retreating behind the wall of the internet. Closure and loss of Post Shops has compounded the problem.

The Post Shop or Post Office was always an important agency in our towns and communities, providing agency services for Government Departments, as well as a Savings Bank, Postal services and money transfer. Recent Governments in New Zealand have turned a blind eye and allowed the closure of Post Shops as well as also allowing the closure of Bank Branches and Government agencies. The result is that we are increasingly marooned, forced to use the internet or wait hours on an 0800 telephone number. That is no way for a Country to go forward.

Back in the 1990s the problem of Banks closing branches was ever present since the large banks, including Postbank had been privatised into the hands of greedy offshore owners. Those banks made a huge profit each year by way of cutting services and raising costs for small users. The end result was the loss of local banking facilities. Hence Jim Anderton had the idea of a Bank being re-established within New Zealand Post. Operating through the network of 300 Post Shops. A handy and convenient service for towns and communities. Kiwibank was created as part of the Labour-Alliance coalition Government. It was an instant hit with the people and fulfilled the mandate as required. It was branded "the peoples bank" and indeed, served the people. But that is not quite the same now. In a rehash of failed 1980's policies, Kiwibank was sold by NZ Post. NZ Post then closed down their post show network. Kiwibank for a time had their own network of branches but has since closed most of those down. Hurting the people who relied on the system of over the counter banking. Regrettably, The present Labour Government did nothing to stop this.

The loss of local Post Shops and Bank Branches should be an election issue. Increasingly Kiwis are becoming slaves to faceless corporations and Government Departments who hide behind the internet but who refuse to provide any actual service.

Mail delivery worked well when combined with Railways. The Railway Travelling Post Office picked up and sorted mail on route. What a brilliant system and they should bring it back everywhere. A form of mechanized post. On the go.

The decline of mail volumes can be attributed to the loss of fast overnight postal delivery systems likes this which picked up and sorted mail en route over the mainline rail network. Today it takes three times as long to send letters between remote towns. Railway Traveling Post Offices did it with ease.

In a sensible place and time, the Post Office remains a vital centre of communications, and a vital agency service provider. In a world where sensible decisions are made, Post Offices remain as vital community services. In a Sensible Country, Government is not absentee. It does not abandon its citizens to corporate greed, stupidity, arrogance.

It is rather strange, ironic, that in a country where the main Postal operator is publicly owned, that such has been allowed to abandon the people, its shareholders. Perhaps its time, given the way banks are abandoning towns and communities, that the Government of New Zealand re-thought its approach to Post Offices.

Maybe the State owned Postal Company can be made to restore its former network? Or perhaps Post Offices should be separated from NZ Post and operated as a state owned agency business much like what has been done in the United Kingdom. The UK has around 11,000 Post Office's mostly operated as franchises, with around 100 Crown Post Offices (proper Post Offices) still in business. These come under Post Office Limited. I think it was realized by the Gordon Brown Labour Government when they privatized Royal Mail that the public benefit function of the Post Offices needed to be retained. They were thus split off from Royal Mail, and are now a standalone operation acting as agents for Royal Mail and other businesses. Maybe this would work in New Zealand, maybe not. Who knows. It would however seem better then the present situation of diminishing service, fewer Postal Outlets etc. Post Shops/Offices are no longer main street businesses, that is to say, they are now hard to find because they piggy back with other businesses. Post Offices, especially in main centres and tourist towns need to be main street businesses. Easy to locate and find, and ideally, iconic landmarks with a clock tower and public phone booth's.

An important fact worth realizing is that It is not just locals who need to find and use Post Shops/Offices but also Tourists who come to New Zealand from places where Post Office is the recognised name for communications and money transfer. Imagine how they feel when they come to New Zealand and cannot find a Post Office anywhere. They must feel lost in a strange land. They are not the only ones!

A tragic fact about New Zealand is the many lost opportunities regarding heritage preservation.

One such lost opportunity was at the time the New Zealand Post Office was being corporatized, there was a scant regard by the Politicians making the decisions, for the history and heritage of the New Zealand Post Office. Huge amounts of Postal History was lost and this continued on in New Zealand Post after Mr Denks left in the early years of the 21st Century. NZ Post went and junked all of the original post mark stamps from the old Post Offices.

A number of Post Office enthusiasts around New Zealand have saved bits of the Post Office heritage. One significant group is the Ferrymead Post and Telegraph Historical Society Inc. Thankfully, Telecom New Zealand, often painted as the "bad guys" by some, have done a lot to help the Ferrymead group through the donation of their immense telecommunications collection, which was one half of the old New Zealand Post Office Museum. Yes, there had been an official New Zealand Post Office Museum established in the 1980s, but this was split up when the Post Office itself was divided into three Corporations. Of the collection, it was split, the Postal items went to New Zealand Post, Banking items went to Postbank/ANZ and Telecom items went to Telecom Corporation.

Somehow the stupid decision makers at the time did not see the value in setting the Post Office Museum aside separately from the Corporatization process. In the end, Greed dominated the show. One wonders what it would have been like if the New Zealand Post Office Museum had been set up properly in 1987 as its own stand alone Government entity. Today it would be a world class museum.

Luckily the chaps at Ferrymead and others have saved some of the Nation's Postal Heritage. Te Papapa Museum also has some Postal items but not as nearly as much as it should have. Infact it would appear that the Taranaki Museum TAPAC is better equipped with Postal Heritage then the Museum of New Zealand.

Below is an amusing video of the UK's Postal Museum in London.

London Postal Museum and Secret Underground train - Where to take kids The London Postal Museum and its secret mail train is a great place to take kids ! Subscribe on Youtube ➜ https://www.youtube.com/joolzguidesMusic by Lil Lo...

I find that the Government has no ears. Even with Jacinda Gone it is happy and content to allow the Postal System to be wound down and NZ Post to focus on being a courier company.

Of Jacinda's record in office, what did she do to restore the New Zealand Postal System? Nothing. Sad as it is true. I wish i could say the opposite. John Key was worse. None of todays Politicians really know how to run the Country bar Sir Winston.

A Civilized Country would aim to do things right and proper. Government would be universal, it would service and reach people, as opposed to being selective and therefore discriminatory on technological grounds.

The current communications policies of Government agencies, vary. There is not one single commitment to a universal format that reaches all people. Increasingly Government has advanced a digital agenda. Such benefits telco companies and tech companies, but at significant cost and loss of service to people who cannot or will not use computers. Since Government must service everyone, it therefore cannot afford to get into what i call, technology discrimination. It has to provide a service to people and should therefore utilize a mechanism tried and true, namely Post.

Physical letters, are still the only and sure fire way to send a message. People can say they havent got the money or know how for a computer, yet there is next to no excuse when it comes to a physical address. Everyone lives somewhere.

British Post Buses. A great idea. Combine mail with passengers.

In New Zealand, the Railways Road Services did the same thing in so far as combine the mail with passenger transport function. One such bus was the Akaroa Run.

Britain's first Post Bus service was introduced on 20th February 1967. It ran between Llanidloes and Llangurig. Post Buses covered 300 routes at their peak, where they provided a lifeline for isolated communities by combining mail delivery and collection with passenger transport.

The inefficient way the Postal System is now operated in a competitive de regulated market, means of course, that mail frequently becomes lost or never arrives on time. This situation might almost have been New Zealand Post, were it not for the fact that 100 years or so ago, the Postal System actually worked in this Country.

Man receives astonishing letter over 100 years after it was sent in 1916 - Southwark News According to Stephen, who is also editor of the Norwood Review, the letter is from Christabel Mennell, daughter of a tea merchant, to Katie Marsh, wife of the

Below is a link to a recent article that appeared in Stuff, looking at old Post Offices and Post Office employees.

‘The post office was the absolute heart’ There was a time when the post office was the centre of its community. Weddings were even held there. The post offices have gone but some of those buildings live on.

Thames Post Shop, as it was at the time of being closed down in 2018. Home to NZ Post and Kiwibank. This was always a very busy Post Shop, one of the few still left at that time in its original Post Office Building which was built in the 1930s and opened by a member of the First Labour Government. As of 2018, the Building featured a very original old Box Lobby, complete with old Boxes and that old Box Lobby smell.

We used to have a national network of New Zealand Post Shops. offering a range of agency services. It was a convenient and easy to identify and locate system. Often the Post Shops would be located in the most prominent building in town. Everyone knew where NZ Post Shops were and what they did. Coupled with Kiwibank, these Post Shops were a good business.

As well selling Postal Services, there were also Banking services, Payment services, Agency Services at Post Shops. The Post Shops were a one stop shop and quite effective. As a business they could more then stand on their own. Regrettably, it seems, that such were not treated separate from NZ Post Mail business. Instead the Post Shops were closed down and franchised off. The Retail business playing second fiddle to other things.

In the United Kingdom, the Post Office Retail network was seperated from Royal Mail just before privatisation of Royal Mail. Today Post Office Limited oversees a retail network of 11,000 plus branches, mostly in the form of Post agencies operated in association with other businesses. However Post Office Limited retain 100 or so Crown Post Offices being full Post Offices owned by Post Office Limited.

The rise of the internet is blamed for the decline in mail volumes. However the truth of the matter is the removal of New Zealand Post Monopoly on letters cartage in 1999, coupled with the digitizing of Government are behind the significant reduction in NZ Post Mail volumes.

Politicians and bureaucrats have all been part of digitizing Government. In the process they have caused to prop up technology Companies at the expense of the publicly owned Postal system. The digitization agenda has resulted in Government agencies shifting from physical mail to emails and text messages. These Public sector agencies in turn have tried to force their customers to use such technology. Failing which, people are unable to access or pay for services. An example is where Government agencies cut benefits or services because the customer cant be contacted by Text or email. These agencies, have openly discriminated against large numbers of New Zealanders through the removal of traditional payment and service options. Instead of supporting same, Politicians need to be making a stand against this because ultimately, Government must serve everyone. It cannot discriminate between who has a computer and who hasnt.

Government must serve everyone. It's services should be universal. It should communicate with the widest audience. There is no room within publicly funded Government for discrimination on technology grounds. Yet many people have become targets of technology discrimination through the push by Government to digitize services. in effect, cutting off access to those services, for a whole lot of people who cannot use the Internet.