Melbourne meeting report

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POAAL Qld Chairman Jenny Patroni (second from left), WA Chairman Robert Angriawan (second from right) and NSW/ACT Chairman Bob Chizzoniti (far right) with some of the Licensees at the POAAL Melbourne meeting.[/caption]Licensees from around Melbourne gathered in Fitzroy on a wet Friday night to network and to hear from POAAL's Bob Chizzoniti.Bob gave a well-rounded succinct presentation on the present state of the postal industry here and in other countries, and the likely scenarios for the near future.He outlined how technology has changed the letters business, over the counter billpay and banking and driven the flourishing of the parcels business.Bob urged Licensees to assess their business and provide services and products which are in demand in the area they serve.Privatisation was discussed. Will Australia Post be privatised? It was agreed that should AP ever be privatised the process has to be done well and fairly so that investors in the postal industry (Licensees, Postal Agents, mail contractors) are not disadvantaged.There was much discussion about opening hours and operating an LPO in conjunction with another business.Members expressed their appreciation for the regular POAAL email newsletters which are both informative and interesting and relevant and up-to-dateBob reminded Licensees that their LPO Agreement is with AP Retail, not Delivery and they should take care when Delivery issues instructions to them because they may not be covered by the LPO Agreement, or by a payment.There was animated discussion on the massive inconvenience caused by AP’s technology outages and PIN pad breakdowns.