Bridging the gap with rural New Zealand
OPINION: One thing I keep hearing from rural New Zealanders is the importance of relationships. Strong relationships don’t just happen - they take trust, consistency, and time.
The organization’s new chief executive, Marie Fitzpatrick, says it is “deeply concerning.” She is worried that NZ Post could be putting profit above the need for rural communities to access postal services.
“Rural communities should not have to travel half an hour each way to clear their post box, send a letter or pay a bill,” Fitzpatrick says.
“To add insult to injury, rural communities often suffer from poor digital connectivity which makes it difficult to do administrative tasks online,” she adds.
The 2022 Federated Farmers Rural Connectivity Survey found that over half of the farmers surveyed had internet download speeds of 20 megabytes per second (Mbps) or less.
The announcement comes only a few months after NZ Post announced it would end Saturday deliveries for rural newspapers and parcels nationwide.
At that time, NZ Post Chief Operating Officer Brendon Main said the move was due to the service's commercial viability.
“Today, the items delivered by NZ Post rural delivery partners on Saturday are limited to subscription newspapers, as well as some parcels,” Main says.
“We deliver very low volumes of items on these days, and it costs us more to deliver on Saturdays than we earn from the products we deliver.
However, Fitzpatrick says it isn’t just postal deliveries that have been impacted by NZ Post’s apparent retreat from rural communities.
“Earlier this month, the Akaroa Postal Centre also closed suddenly and we are hoping NZ Post can find an alternative solution for continuing retail postal services to the Akaroa community,” she says.
She says RWNZ will continue to engage with NZ Post, government agencies and Ministers with regards to NZ Post’s Deed of Understanding with Government and its minimum service provision.
“Our rural communities play a vital role in New Zealand’s economy and deserve better – especially from a State-Owned Enterprise,” Fitzpatrick concludes.
