Plea to halt the abuse of posties

THE manager of a Tasmanian post office has pleaded with locals to stop “abusing” him and his staff after revelations his town of 3000 is in the grips of a missing mail epidemic.

It comes as the Postal Industry Ombudsman confirmed complaints relating to Perth, 15km south of Launceston, had more than doubled since the issues came to light, from an initial four up to 10 at the time of publication.

Meanwhile, Australia Post has reiterated its belief that there are no issues on its end, suggesting the town’s woes are the work of a sticky-fingered mail thief, or otherwise residents being switched unknowingly over to digital billing systems. The Mercury previously spoke to six Perth residents, with many more having vented their frustration online, all of whom shared a similar story: For the last 12-24 months, mail such as car registration, insurance, licence renewals and credit card bills had inexplicably been delivered late or not at all.

On Sunday, a Perth resident of 20 years, Chris Eldershaw, said he had lost faith in Australia Post after his utility bills began arriving after their due date about two years ago.

“When you have a late payment on utilities it affects your credit score,” he said.

“You’re very dependent on the service to get it right.”

Mr Eldershaw said he had now moved his accounts for several utilities to digital billing so he could “take the postal service out of the equation”.

“The postal system is an integral part of society, even in this day of technology, we really need to trust and have confidence and faith in the system,” he said.

Mr Eldershaw said it would be an “incredibly busy” mail thief who found time to plunder so many letterboxes in the town over such a long period of time.

Dale Mulligan, manager of Perth’s post office, recently took to social media to defend his business. “Street mail is sorted and delivered from Launceston,” he said.

“I live here as well and don’t alway receive all of my private mail. The mail man cannot deliver mail that he doesn’t get. So let’s stop the finger-pointing and abuse, please, we are just doing our jobs.”

An Australia Post representative said its conclusion that there were no problems with its Perth service was informed by its own investigations, which remain “ongoing”.

“Monitors have been installed at known locations and initial findings indicate mail is being delivered,” the representative said.

“We continue to work with police around instances of mail theft. Customers who suspect they may be experiencing mail theft are urged to report this to the police.”