Ms Carol Bolger:

The Senator and I are in agreement in terms of our comments. We want to do more. We are trying to develop products and services that people want from post offices. As mentioned yesterday on "Today with Claire Byrne" we do not want to be "me too"; we want to have innovation around our products such that they will be products that will attract people into the post offices. We need to be much more innovative about how we get people in and how we ensure transactions are profitable for postmasters as well. The Senator mentioned the reduction in welfare benefits, which is huge. The post offices also suffered losses last year in regard to foreign exchange because of the pandemic. It has been a very difficult year for postmasters. I understand that.

We need to put on our thinking caps and to go through the list of services that could be provided by post offices, some of which the Senator listed. We are chomping at the bit to provide those services. Today, maybe, is a catalyst for us as an organisation in that through our engagement with Government through this committee we will open a door. We will do everything we can to support the postmasters to have a broader suite of products and services that they can sell.

Co-location has been a positive for us as well. Senator Carrigy mentioned that where postmasters have retired it has been difficult to replace them. That is a challenge that we and postmasters are faced with. Approximately 67% of our contract offices are co-located. That is a model that will serve us well into the future. We continue to explore that. I thank the Senator for his contributions.