Stapled to the official Australia Post Order Form was the real reason for their junk mail in our post box – a one page sheet announcing: 1 DAY ONLY, 10% OFF STATIONERY. This is further evidence of the Government owned business using its monopoly to take retail sales from independent retailers like newsagents.
The previous government said that Australia Post only offred retail products as incidental to portage products and services and that it would never abuse the monopoly to take retail business from others such as newsagents.
It will be interesting to see is the new Labor Government addresses this issue, whether they allow Australia Post management to continue to use government protection of their monopoly to take retail sales from family run newsagencies. The stakes are high. There are unions in Australia Post to consider as well as mums and dads who own newsagencies along with their tens of thousands of employees.
It all comes down to interpretation of the Act of Parliament under which Australia Post operates. My reading is that the stationery flyer attached to the postal service form is not permitted under the act. But I would take that view, it suits me.  A person or body less conflicted than me needs to look at this and advise the Government on how to navigate the issue. If Australia Post is left to its current pla, there is no doubt jobs in newsagencies and other businesses will suffer.