Appeal to stop post price hikes

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 wrote to Government ministers yesterday, asking them to amend the deed of understanding between the Government and state-owned NZ Post. They included the Magazine Publishers Association, Rural

Women NZ, Grey Power and NZ Outdoor. The deed’s purpose is to ensure equal access to the postal network. 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 was needed because price directly affected accessibility. The group said access points and delivery days were irrelevant if the price was too high for Kiwis to put anything in the postbox.