Gulf communities continue to bear the brunt of Brisbane-centric policies that are unworkable in the North Queensland environment, Katter’s Australia Party (KAP) Leader and Traeger MP Robbie Katter has said.

Australia Post is failing in its obligation to provide postal services to Gulf communities, especially when the weather doesn’t play nice.

“I hear some pretty wild stories of easy things being done the hard way by government institutions, but Australia Post’s recent delivery (or lack of) debacle has to take the cake!” Mr Katter said.

“I am reliably told that for vital post coming from Townsville to Gulf communities, Australia Post have very successfully delivered all the way to Cloncurry – 90% of the way to the destinations – but when faced with a road closure or any other obstacle the answer is to truck the items 800km all the way back to Townsville!

“Instead of working with locals on the ground in accessible towns such as Cloncurry or even Mount Isa, the automatic answer from Australia Post is to lock deliveries away into storage.  This means that they won’t consider redirecting them to an alternative address.

“Common sense must prevail!” Mr Katter said.

Gulf communities and businesses are working together to get the essentials done, even when city-centric institutions such as Australia Post cannot.

Mayor of Burke Shire Council, Ernie Camp, said that local transport companies had successfully applied for permits to safely drive through flood water and get the job done.

“We should be able to rely on Australia Post for essential deliveries; everything from official correspondence to machinery parts, and vital communications equipment.

“We were recently successful in attracting a new professional to our shire, and he had arranged for communications equipment delivered, which was essential for the role.  With the road officially cut off, Australia Post have simply sent the delivery to storage in Townsville; more than 1000km away.  There’s no hope of retrieving the parcel or redirecting it to a closer location like Mount Isa,” Mr Camp said.

Traeger MP, Robbie Katter said that local people should not be the ones to have to come up with the practical solutions anytime something got hard.

“We know that it rains in summer up here, and we know that roads will be cut every year.  Instead of saying that it’s against policy, Australia Post need a more robust process to uphold their service obligations to the communities of the Gulf.

“Australia Post was once one of the cornerstone institutions of our nation.  We have long relied on the regular services from the ‘postie’ for all sorts of information and vital supplies, but we are quickly losing faith.

“Australia Post proudly promotes that ‘for over 200 years, we have always delivered’.  It seems that this commitment is weak if you live in remote North West communities.”

“I will be working closely with our Federal MP, Bob Katter to escalate this as a matter of urgency address this matter.”