00:00Australia Post is sounding the alarm about threats to its business model in the same
00:07week that it made the extraordinary decision to halt most shipping to the United States.
00:12The Australian-owned entity reported its annual profit, showing that it made what it says
00:18is a modest profit of $18 million.
00:21The figures show that Australia Post is making quite a loss on its letter-sending side of
00:26the business, around $200 million, and that while it's sending more parcels, it's warning
00:32about private operators taking up this portion of its business.
00:37The plan is to continue to invest, to make sure that we can compete, both from a cost
00:41perspective but also from a services perspective.
00:45Australian consumers are getting very demanding.
00:47They want same-day service, they want next-day service, they want the convenience of everything
00:51in the palm of their hand through their mobile.
00:53Early this week, Australia Post and many other global postal operators halted most shipping
00:59to the United States after the Trump administration brought in new taxes on low-value goods going
01:05into America.
01:06The issue here is that Australia Post doesn't have the sorts of systems that could collect
01:11and distribute these new taxes, while other private companies say they do have these systems.
01:18Now Australia Post has a mandate to help.
01:20It's been very difficult, difficult for our team members, but most importantly difficult
01:24for our customers, because there has been a degree of uncertainty around the whole tariff
01:28landscape for the US.
01:30Is it on?
01:31Is it not on?
01:32We have to deal with that.
01:33We have to roll with those punches.
01:34Our focus is on making sure our customers have the ability to serve their US customers as
01:38quickly as possible, and with the most competitive product that we can deliver, and we're working
01:44night and day to deliver that solution.
01:45Australia Post is generally cheaper to send parcels, especially for small businesses, and it has
01:52a mandate to send letters and packages in rural and regional parts of Australia.
01:57The question here is how much longer can Australia Post operate without receiving government help,
02:03and will Australia Post still be around in 10, 20 years' time?
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