Organisations write open letter to Government to stop NZ Post price hikes

Wednesday, 7 June 2023

Businesses and rural communities are appealing to the Government to stop significant postal price hikes.

From July 1, NZ Post is increasing its postage price for bulk mail customers by 30%, meaning the cost of sending mail has increased 100% in the past five years for these customers.

Thirteen organisations representing community groups and businesses that will be significantly affected by the price rise sent a letter to ministers on Wednesday asking them to amend the deed of understanding that exists between the Government and state-owned NZ Post.

They included the Magazine Publishers Association, Rural Women New Zealand, Grey Power and NZ Outdoor.

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The deed’s purpose is to ensure equal access to the postal network for all individuals, communities and businesses who rely on it. However, the deed only sets out requirements for points of access and frequency of delivery with no mention of price.

The group said an urgent amendment to the deed of understanding was needed because price directly affects accessibility.

The view of the group was that access points and delivery days were irrelevant if the price was too high for New Zealanders to put anything in the post box.

The decline in mail volume was blamed for the price hikes.

NZ Post had reached the end of Government funding support for mail services announced in May 2020, when the Government made available $130 million over three years to cover the projected financial losses resulting from volume decline.

On July 1 standard mail letter prices would increase by 30 cents, international postage prices would increase and annual PO Box rental fees would also rise.

Nicholas Burrowes of the Magazine Publishers Association said its aim was to ensure the Government acted to put pressure on NZ Post to deliver on its promise of accessibility.

“Without an amendment to the deed to address the cost of post, this price increase will effectively diminish our local voice and identity, and put companies out of business in a sector that employs hundreds of New Zealanders.

“It’s a thumb in the eye to the local media industry, after an extremely challenging period through Covid-19 and now the cost of living crisis. Our members have done their best to absorb ongoing cost increases over the past few years, but this price increase will sadly lead to the collapse of publications exposed to NZ Post’s monopoly on addressed mail,” he said.

Gabrielle O’Brien, chief executive of Rural Women New Zealand said she was particularly concerned about people living in rural New Zealand where the postal service provided a vital connection to each other, to the rest of the country and the world.

“The reality is that for parts of rural and remote New Zealand there is no choice about the use of post.

“Whilst digital connectivity is improving, there are many New Zealanders in these remote communities who do not have consistent, reliable connectivity and who rely on the postal service to run their businesses and to keep informed.”

Jan Pentecost, national president of Grey Power New Zealand, said the elderly were reliant on postal services and were “digitally excluded”.

“More than 50% of superannuitants have very little income apart from their pension and such a large postage increase on top of all the other escalating living costs may well mean that numerous older people are further disadvantaged.”