No staff to ease Post Office queues

Australia Post says it does not have the staff to extend opening hours at its Port and South Hedland offices, despite acknowledging queuing issues at both.

Port Hedland councillor Jan Gillingham requested council approach Australia Post about extending trading hours, at the August 22 ordinary council meeting.

Cr Gillingham said queues at the post offices were “out the door”, and asked whether hours could be extended to include opening on a Saturday morning.

However, an Australia Post spokeswoman said the company didn’t have enough staff to extend hours at the outlets.

“Australia Post acknowledges that sometimes there are queuing issues at the Port and South Hedland post offices,” she said.

“Like other employers with a presence in mining communities, Australia Post is finding it increasingly difficult to attract staff to the area and retain them on an ongoing basis.

“We have looked at opening the Port and South Hedland post offices for extended hours, however we simply don’t have enough staff to open these outlets for longer durations.”

The spokeswoman said Australia Post had regularly been flying staff in from Darwin and Perth to ensure access to core postal services continued in Port and South Hedland.