Coleambally Post Office

Coleambally has lost its post office. Not because the community failed — because Australia Post decided the town wasn't worth a proper service.

The Licensed Post Office that operated for over a decade was shut down in February and replaced with a Community Postal Agency run from a pharmacy. No PO boxes. No bill payment. No banking. No parcel tracking. Mail sorted on a trestle table under a carport. That is the standard Australia Post now considers acceptable for a town of over a thousand people.

Elderly residents who paid bills in person have been cut off. Visa holders working in the district cannot send international mail. Contractors drive 165 kilometres a day to sort mail because there are no proper facilities. In one case, an Australia Post van drives empty from Narrandera to Coleambally while the Coleambally contractor drives empty to Narrandera — at the same time.

The community put forward workable solutions. They were dismissed without investigation. No tender was offered. No service impact assessment was done.

Seventy-three post offices closed across Australia in 2024 alone. Coleambally was not a casualty of decline. It was a choice made by people who have never set foot in the town.

Restore the LPO. Stop dismantling regional services.