November 19, 2013
Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott has seconded a motion in Federal Parliament calling on Australia Post to review the postcodes for areas such as Blackbutt-Benarkin.
The South Burnett timber towns share the same 4306 postcode as Ipswich city, 130km away, which has frustrated local residents for many years and caused them to incur extra costs.
Australia Post recently again refused requests, from residents and the South Burnett Regional Council, to change the postcode.
Member for Ryan Jane Prentice – whose electorate of Ryan includes Karana Downs which is also roped into the 4306 postcode area – moved a motion on Monday that called on Australia Post to review the allocation of unique postcodes for localities which currently share a postcode with a geographically separate locality.
Mr Scott spoke in favour of the motion.
“Blackbutt is not geographically located on the edge of Ipswich but the region has been allocated the same postcode which causes significant problems and costs to that community,” Mr Scott said.
Mr Scott said there were at least 50 localities – spread across four Federal electorates and six different council areas – which shared the 4306 postcode.
“What does it mean for those communities? If you look at Centrelink, Centrelink believes Blackbutt is a suburb of Ipswich, and that requires residents to travel 130km to transact Centrelink business in lieu of a 60km drive to Kingaroy,” he said.
“There’s a disadvantage for the farming community, where they have a need for a workforce in horticulture and other activities in the Blackbutt region but they’re unable to extend certain visas because the region is not considered ‘rural’.”
Mr Scott said postcode allocation was causing a myriad of issues including lengthy postal delivery delays and rural properties experiencing higher insurance premiums as a result of being linked to a city with metropolitan woes.
“From the far west of my electorate almost on the border of the Northern Territory, the community of Bedourie, the headquarters of the Diamantina Shire, does not have a postcode, yet it is headquarters of a large region of the Diamantina Shire,” he said.
“The postcode is Rockhampton, based on the Pacific Ocean rim. It is just nonsensical that they could not allocate a postcode in these circumstances to communities like Bedourie.
“Yowah, west of Cunnamulla, shares a postcode with a community 150-200km away.
“Why not give them their unique postcode? That’s why the Coalition moved this motion calling on Australia Post to review the allocation of postcodes and act on this very significant issue for many rural communities.”
Opposition Whip Jill Hall also spoke for the motion, labelling Australia Post as”recalcitrant”.
“We really need to strongly encourage Australia Post to listen to the community that they represent,” she said.
“We need to strongly encourage Australia Post to have a more open view of how they look at situations … things change; things do not remain the same. If your opinion stays the same, it shows that you are not reacting to the concerns of the communities that you service.
“Australia Post is a service organisation and, as a service organisation, it needs to listen to those communities that it services.”
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Mr Scott’s speech from Hansard:
Blackbutt is not geographically located on the edge of Ipswich but that is the postcode that has been allocated. It causes significant problems and costs to that community. Blackbutt is located in the South Burnett region not far from Kingaroy, very near Nanango and Yarraman, which have their own postcodes.
“What does it mean for those communities? If you look at Centrelink, Centrelink believes that Blackbutt is a suburb of Ipswich, and that requires residents to travel 130 kilometres to transact Centrelink business in lieu of, say, a 60-kilometre drive up to Kingaroy, which is their nearest Centrelink office in their own region.
“I have had farmers call me because of some labour situations, such as that holiday backpackers on a special visa are allocated to rural Australia, and after 12 months they can apply for an extension of that if they are in a rural area, as they are. But because their postcode is Ipswich they cannot have that extension on that visa.
“This disadvantages the farming community, where they have a need for a workforce in horticulture and other activities in the Blackbutt region. Then we have got the issue of insurance. When insurance companies look at the postcode of the people of Blackbutt, and Benarkin for that matter, they say, ‘Ah, a suburb of Ipswich.’ They then go have a look at the crime issues and say, ‘This will be a high risk area,’ so people are actually paying a premium for their insurance because of that very postcode that is associated with Ipswich.
“I take nothing away from the good people of Ipswich but, because their postcode is that of Ipswich, they are charged an additional risk factor and it is costing up to $150 additional each time they get quotes for insurance on a business or a house, on household risk. So it is a disadvantage for these people.
“On the issue of crime and drug-related issues, Blackbutt is a proud community and they do not want to be associated with other communities that are necessarily in Ipswich’s case associated with the greater risk of crime and also drug-related issues in their community. What I am saying and what the motion suggests is that we are calling on the government to request Australia Post to listen to the people and allocate a unique postcode rather than sharing in geographically separate locations.
“That would not be difficult for Blackbutt. It could be associated with Nanango or Yarraman or even Kingaroy. Nanango is about 60 kilometres away and Yarraman about 20 kilometres. They have their own postcodes: Nanango is 4615 and Yarraman is 4614. Surely it would not be difficult to give them the same postcode as their very near neighbouring communities or even Kingaroy if that would suit them better.
“But it would certainly mean a lot of lower costs to the community and would mean that the Centrelink issues could be addressed and that those visas applications to extend a holiday visa, a working visa, would be able to be addressed locally. I commend the motion to the House and call Australia Post to act on this very significant issue for many rural communities.”
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