I no longer rely on Australia Post and I’m not alone

My confidence was already low and now, with the news of chief executive Ahmed Fahour’s obscene salary, it’s close to zero.

Two years ago, I assumed the hiccups I was experiencing were simply because I had moved from a capital city to a small town.

Still, two weeks for mail to get from northern NSW to Melbourne stretched the friendship.

The next problem was that my Australia Post mail redirect didn’t work. Some mail simply didn’t arrive and items that were successfully redirected took too long.

Then, the cost of a stamp jumped from 70¢ to $1. It effectively went up by more 100 per cent.

After two instances of a letter taking a week to be delivered to nearby towns, I decided to forgo the extra 50¢ worth of decoration on my envelopes.

Deliveries in the other direction proved even more problematic, including the online shopping deliveries that are allegedly the lifeline of the electronic-age Australia Post.

T-shirts ordered in early October for Halloween did not arrive by the 30th. 

Despite our innate loyalty to Australia Post, my husband has switched to courier companies for his business, and asks his suppliers to do the same.

I still get bills and bank statements sent by mail but only those that have long lead times for payment.

I am not the only one complaining. If you are in need of a sense of solidarity, spend a minute on Australia Post’s Facebook page.

News of Fahour’s salary simply means that I no longer look to the challenges of our wide-brown land, my interstate move, my country town life, or the incompetence of individual agency owners for responsibility.

The blame now clearly sits with every individual involved at a senior level with Australia Post. To allow unseemly pay packets within such a poorly performing business should be inconceivable.

As this is a government-owned corporation surely something should be able to change. Whether or not it is too late to restore the confidence of millions of Australians is another question.