Federal election

The ALP, Coalition and Greens have responded to POAAL's questions regarding their respective postal policies.All have committed to retaining Australia Post in government ownership.The Coalition has pledged that should it win government it will appoint Directors to the Australia Post Board who have "experience that is relevant to the postal industry".The ALP made no commitment to withdraw the proposed AUSTRAC fees for LPOs.The ALP noted that it hopes that the introduction of the National Broadband Network will reduce the establishment costs for EPOS facilities in LPOs in regional and rural Australia. Furthermore, the ALP "...believes that Australia Post licensees will play a key role in providing digital services to all Australians, regardless of where they live, once the NBN has been delivered."The Coalition noted the various small business initiatives they intend to introduce should they win office.The Greens noted their in-principle support of increasing rural services through the provision of EPOS, and that they agree for the need for postal industry expertise on the Australia Post Board.