Thank you Chair and Senators. My name is Paul Graham, I am the Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Australia Post. I'm joined by Jane Anderson Executive General Manager, Community, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement and Nick Macdonald our Group Corporate Secretary.
I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians, the Ngunawal and Ngamberi peoples and pay my respects to their elders. I thank the Committee for the opportunity to provide this brief statement.
Australia Post continues to make significant progress on its Post26 transformation program, which is driving material improvements across the business.
While we have not yet announced our first half results, the combination of our Post26 strategy, modernisation reforms approved by Parliament and a record Peak - where we delivered 102.8 million packages - has underpinned a strong performance in the first half.
Although positive, it's important to note our first half is traditionally profitable, while we usually run at a large loss in the second half. And we don't anticipate FY25 to be any different.
Australia Post continues to face a number of challenges, both structural and competitive. Letters volumes continue to decline year-on-year.
As I have said before, letters will never return to profitability, but I assure you Australia Post will continue to deliver mail to every part of the country until the last letter is sent.
Additionally, we are under significant competitive pressure from global logistics and eCommerce providers making significant investments in our market, along with a growing number of foreign start-ups. Australia Post competes against these players, who don't make the same important contribution to our job market, economy and community wellbeing. We are committed to supporting Australia and the community, which is why it's important we build a long-term financially sustainable business.
We recently announced new in-principle Bank@Post agreements with Australia's big banks. Before this, Bank@Post was on a pathway to significant financial losses, and these deals were secured after months of challenging negotiations. I want to thank the Australia Post team for securing the new agreements and the government for their support in delivering a much-improved Bank@Post outcome.
On behalf of the millions of Australians who use our banking services, I would also like to thank the banks for signing on to new funding agreements. It will enable us to continue to provide basic banking in the hundreds of communities where the Post Office is the last bank in town.
And while these new deals will help reduce Bank@Post losses, Australia Post, the Government and the Banks all recognise we need a longer-term solution to ensure services remain available and financially viable, especially in rural and regional Australia.
It's also great news for our Licensed Post Offices, as they will have greater certainty and - with ANZ agreeing to join - will be able to help more customers conduct banking through Australia Post.
Our Licensees are hard-working, family-run businesses, who are the heart and soul of their communities. But we are experiencing a generational change in how customers use their local Post Office, compounded by the aging demographics of our licensee community.
Declining foot traffic and a reduction in over-the-counter transactions are all having an impact, as our economy digitises, which will only accelerate. Australia Post remains committed to working with our Licensees to help build a more sustainable future for these small business owners, but it will be challenging.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Australia Post team who worked around the clock during our record-breaking Peak to ensure Australian families received their parcels. I would like to thank our extended workforce of 64,000 team members for making this possible.
We are mindful that 2025 is a federal election year, and I can assure the committee we are primed and ready to help with the democratic process when the election is called. We have been working closely with the AEC to ensure our teams are ready to manage the increased demand during the campaign.
