A stamp of progress
THE Yarrabah community is embracing changes made to the town’s postal services.
The Australia Post outlet, managed by Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council corporate services manager Jemma Lichtenfeld, now allows customers to complete over-the-counter banking and bill payments as well as postal services.
The expanded services mean residents will avoid the inconvenient drive to Gordonvale or Edmonton, which used to be the only options for paying bills or banking.
The council has also hired an extra person to help out at the Yarrabah Post Office.
Mayor Ross Andrews has been a huge supporter of the expanded services.
“It’s early days but it’s very helpful and the community has embraced the approach to more of a post office service. It’s pretty positive,” he said.
“It is definitely more efficient now. People can pay their car or boat registration, electricity accounts.
“From this particular project there are opportunities to expand. We’ve been working on the jetty project, hopefully that will bring us closer to the outside world and also bring tourism into the community.”
Ms Lichtenfeld said the council had been working on the expansion of the post office for “many years”. “In November we talked about it and then it has all happened fast,” she said.
“It’s huge for the community. The past two years, there was no hairdresser, no cafe, now the community has everything a town should have.
“There are endless opportunities it creates which we could benefit from.”
Transport company Dindarr recently received a $1 million investment as part of the Federal Government’s $20 million Regional Jobs and Investment Package to build a ferry to run between Yarrabah and Cairns.
Plans are also under way for a new $7 million jetty at the Aboriginal community. It is due for completion in August 2019. The town is just 10km from Cairns as the crow flies, but it takes up to 50 minutes to drive the 51km via road.