General News
14 October, 2026
David and Goliath
WHEN Rosanna Brown received the call to appear before a Senate committee investigating Australia Post’s retail network, she admitted to feeling stunned.
Sitting in her “bliss bubble” at the colourful Babinda Post Office, she considered herself more at home “pricing squishies” than battling corporate executive teams in front of a national hearing 2500 kilometres away.
Yet, as federal parliament considers the committee’s final report, Ms Brown’s passionate testimony has emerged as a rallying cry for regional Licensed Post Offices (LPOs) across Australia. Armed with a sharp tongue and an unshakeable commitment to her 1300-strong community, Ms Brown took the fight directly to Canberra to oppose Australia Post’s “LPO Reimagined” plan – a proposal she warned threatens the survival of small-town post shops.
“I exist in a bliss bubble in my hometown of Babinda,” Ms Brown told the hearing.
“My post office has given me professional fulfillment, a creative outlet and a deep sense of belonging,” she said.
“So why me? Simple. I have not been engaged in any meaningful consultation. I reject the claims of my CEO that he has done so.”
At the heart of the dispute is Australia Post’s strategic shift toward a “parcel first” model, fixed-term arrangements and mysterious five-tier payment structures.
Ms Brown voiced deep frustration over orchestrated executive communications that lack transparency, warning that converting perpetual licenses to fixed terms devalues small business investments and destabilises essential local connections.
“My shop is fun, colourful and I am a delight. But understand, I am just as much about the money,” Ms Brown stated firmly.
“Give me actual figures so that I am empowered to formulate my own business plan.”
She emphasised that corporate models tailored for city centres fail in two-terminal regional shops, where the licensee serves as a lifeline for vulnerable residents who cannot rely on digital alternatives or automated parcel lockers.
“You can’t withdraw $50 out of a parcel locker,” she noted.
Reinforcing Ms Brown’s testimony, the Babinda District Community Association (Taskforce) lodged a detailed submission to the inquiry, framing the local LPO not merely as a postal shop, but as vital community infrastructure. The taskforce highlighted a grim history of economic erosion in Babinda, noting the cumulative loss of the town’s century-old sugar mill in 2011, its dedicated newsagency in 2022, traditional bank branches and the proposed decommissioning of the local 50-year-old swimming pool.
With no “big four” bank branches remaining in town, locals rely heavily on the post office counter for Bank@Post services, government document verification, stationery and travel essentials that support the local tourism economy.
“Any reduction in what our LPO can offer ... would not be an inconvenience – it would be another significant step in the hollowing out of our town,” the Taskforce stated. “It accelerates our decline.”
Babinda Taskforce urged the Senate committee to endorse the LPO Group’s call for a “services first” model.
Key recommendations include preserving perpetual licenses, ensuring fair remuneration for low-volume regional sites, strengthening Australia Post’s community service obligations and enforcing a mandatory community impact test before any service downgrades occur in towns with under 5000 residents.
For Ms Brown, standing up to Canberra was never about attacking Australia Post, but about demanding respect for the people who keep regional Australia connected.
“Nobody has more skin in the game than LPOs,” Ms Brown concluded.
“It took everything I had to enter the ring eight years ago and I’m not giving up on my promise to endure.”
Submissions have closed. The committee’s report is due today and will inform Parliament’s consideration of the future of the postal network.
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