Helen Dalton MP was arguing with Australia Post CEO Paul Graham when Sharon (middle) joined in. Photo: Supplied.
NSW Parliament’s chamber is known as the “bearpit” for its fierce and fiery exchanges between politicians.
That tension unexpectedly spilled over into the lobby this week when NSW state MP Helen Dalton confronted Australia Post CEO Paul Graham as he was leaving a PR event to demand answers on why Coleambally’s licensed post office was abruptly shut in February.
“You’ve been very very slow with your correspondence,” Mrs Dalton told him.
She then accused Mr Graham of kicking the can down the road.
Adding to the drama, a woman named Sharon started filming the awkward exchange while a man who seemed to be her partner kept asking, “Can we go please?”.
Sharon then interrupted the conversation to tell Mr Graham about other towns that had lost their postal services.
Mrs Dalton said 80 post offices across Australia had closed recently.
“That’s not true, we aren’t closing them,” Mr Graham said.
He explained that small town post offices were often run by private providers, who might choose to give up their licences if they were not making money.
“There was another person that would have taken on the licence [in Coleambally] and it wasn’t offered to them,” Mrs Dalton fired back.
“Are you slowing the process down and hoping Coleambally will go away? Because I tell you, they won’t go away.”
Sharon angrily left the conversation after telling the Australia Post CEO to talk to people instead of just doing photoshoots.
“Have a nice day,” she said after shaking his hand.
Coleambally’s long-standing licensed post office (LPO) closed suddenly on 6 February for reasons that have not been publicly explained.
Some services resumed the following week at Marilyn’s Pharmacy, but key functions are missing. The new outlet does not offer banking, BPAY bill payments, parcel tracking or PO boxes.
A protest rally attended by hundreds of residents demanded the return of full services late last month.
David Farley (right) and Helen Dalton (with microphone) joined Coleambally residents in protesting the postal downgrade. Photo: Supplied.
“I wanted a friendly conversation,” Mrs Dalton said following her confrontation with Mr Graham.
“I didn’t expect things to get that heated, but people are angry about the closure of post offices in rural Australia.
“Initially, Paul seemed like he wanted to shut down the discussion, but I wasn’t willing to walk away.”
Mrs Dalton said the Australia Post CEO was offended by her mentioning his reported $3.3 million annual salary in a letter.
“I care a lot more about the feelings of the people of Coleambally than the hurt feelings of a CEO,” Mrs Dalton said.
At the end of the confrontation, Mr Graham agreed to provide Mrs Dalton with an update on progress Australia Post makes on restoring full mail services to Coleambally.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
