July 14, 2017
Blackbutt and Benarkin residents will finally have a chance to complain face-to-face to Australia Post representatives about their bizarre postcode problem next week.
Local residents – and local MPs – have been agitating for years to have the towns’ 4306 postcode altered.
At the moment, semi-rural and rural Blackbutt and Benarkin share the same postcode as metropolitan Ipswich, which affects insurance premiums and causes confusion with the delivery of some government services.
The two 4306 postcode regions are not even connected geographically.
Australia Post is hosting a community forum at Blackbutt Post Office next week so local residents can “meet Australia Post representatives, have your say about Australia Post in your community and hear about how we are evolving to meet your changing needs”.
The flyer promoting the event makes no mention of the ongoing postcode drama, but Member for Maranoa David Littleproud is urging residents to make sure they go along to have their say on the issue.
He believes this is an opportunity for 4306 residents to “stop one of Queensland’s unluckiest postcodes from haunting our region”.
“On July 21, Australia Post will hold a community forum from 10:00am to 11:00am at the Blackbutt Post Office and I really encourage the Blackbutt and Benarkin communities to have their say,” Mr Littleproud said.
“As Ipswich-Amberley 4306 is described as a metropolitan region and Blackbutt-Benarkin region is rural, this postcode has resulted in a diverse and significant range of detrimental outcomes for Blackbutt-Benarkin residents.
“For example, producers in this South Burnett region employ backpackers as an important part of their seasonal workforce.
“If these farmers would like the backpackers to extend their 12-month visa to continue working on their property, they’re experiencing difficulties because this region is considered metropolitan instead of rural and doesn’t fit the visa criteria.
“Another example relates to premiums for home contents and motor vehicle insurance, which are based on postcodes.
“Blackbutt and Benarkin are being bundled up with metropolitan woes as the city has a higher crime rate when compared to the rural region.”
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