New Zealand Post

The New Zealand Post Office, a government agency, provided postal, banking, and telecommunications services in New Zealand until 1987. By the 1980s, however, economic difficulties made the government reconsider how it delivered postal services. For example, in 1987-1988, the postal division lost NZ$50 million.[1] In 1985, the Labour Party government under Prime Minister David Lange launched a review, led by New Zealand Motor Corporation CEO Roy Mason and KPMG New Zealand Chairman Michael Morris, to find solutions to the Post Office's problems. In its final report, the team recommended transforming the New Zealand Post Office into three state-owned enterprises. The government in 1986 decided to follow the Mason-Morris review's recommendations, and passed through parliament the State-Owned Enterprises Act, which corporatised several government agencies into state-owned enterprises.[2][3] The Post Office's corporatisation was then completed with the 1987 passage of the Postal Services Act.[1][4] The two acts broke up the New Zealand Post Office into three corporations: the postal service firm New Zealand Post Limited, the savings bank Post Office Bank Limited, later rebranded as PostBank, and the telecommunications company Telecom New Zealand Limited. Today, only New Zealand Post remains a state-owned enterprise, as PostBank and Telecom were privatised in 1989 and 1990, respectively.[5]

In its first year of operation, New Zealand Post turned the losses of previous years into a NZ$72 million profit.[6]

A year after the 1987 Post Office Act, the Lange Government declared its plan to fully privatise the post.[6] To prepare for privatisation, it decided to gradually reduce NZ Post's monopoly. When it was corporatised in 1987, New Zealand Post had a monopoly for mail up to 500 grams and NZ$1.75 value. This was first reduced to $1.35, then $1, and finally 80 cents. The government also let NZ Post downsize by closing a third of its locations. In 1991-1992, another review came out in support of the government's privatisation plan. However, by the end of 1993 the government abandoned its plan because of public opposition.[1]

New Zealand Post began its life with 1,244 post offices, later rebranded as PostShops, of which 906 were full post offices and 338 were postal agencies. After government subsidies expired in February 1988, 600 post offices or bank branches were downsized or closed. As of March 1998, there were 297 PostShops and 705 Post Centres. However, there are now more outlets than before corporatisation, with 2,945 other retailers of postage stamps.

There was a reduction in the "real" price of postage, with a nominal drop of the postage rate from 45 cents to 40 cents in 1996, and restoration of the 45 cent rate in 2004. Since then the cost has risen to 50 cents in 2007, to 60 cents in 2010 and to 70 cents in 2012. On 1 July 2016 postage for standard letters will increase by 20 cents to $1.00 and Fastpost by 40 cents to $1.80.

The Lange government's Postal Services Act 1987 reduced the monopoly of New Zealand Post to a limit of $1.75 and 500 grams. It was gradually reduced to 80 cents in December 1991 until the 1998 legislation took effect.

Since the deregulation of the postal sector, different postal operators can install mail collection boxes in New Zealand's streets.

The Postal Services Act 1998, passed by a National-New Zealand First coalition government, repealed the 1987 Act. The new law provides for any person to become a registered postal operator by applying to the Ministry of Economic Development (now Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment). Registration as a postal operator is compulsory for letters with postage less than 80 cents. Despite the Act, government regulation of the company still requires it to maintain certain minimum service levels, such as frequency of delivery.

New Zealand Post's exclusive right to be the 'sole operator' under the Act for the purposes of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) expired on 1 April 2003. For practical purposes, this meant another postal operator could theoretically issue stamps identified simply as 'New Zealand' with UPU membership. At around the same time, New Zealand Post adopted a fern-shaped identifying mark on its postage stamps, to be used on the majority of its future issues.

Since 1998 New Zealand Post has been legally obliged to deliver six days a week, but in 2013 the company outlined a plan to reduce this to three, in the wake of falling mail volumes.[7] Prime Minister John Key backed the idea, saying people "genuinely understand that the world is changing".[8]

New Zealand Post is legally obligated to maintain a certain service level under a deed of understanding it signed with the New Zealand government following the post's corporatisation in 1987. According to the agreement, last amended in 2013, New Zealand Post has to operate at least 880 service points where basic postal services are available, and within this network 240 so-called “Personal Assistance Service Points,” where additional postal services, such as priority or parcel services, are available.[9] As of 30 June 2016, New Zealand Post maintained 987 service points, 511 which were personal assistance service points. In all, the post operated 882 retail locations in mid-2016. The standard of signature/non-signature parcel delivery services, varies with their customers sometimes left a mailbox card instructing them to pick up parcels from the nearest NZ Post Depot or if a small address discrepancy/address damage is discovered, the parcel is invariably returned to the sender, usually with no efforts directed toward telephoning, emailing or looking up the recipient in a directory, whist more effort is prioritised into delivering miss-addressed letters.[10]

New Zealand Post headquarters in Wellington.

In 1989 New Zealand Post established CourierPost, a nationwide courier company designed to protect the company's parcel business from private competition. By 1998 CourierPost had become the number one player in the express courier market.[11]

In 1999 New Zealand Post launched a 50:50 joint operation with Blue Star. The new brand – Books and More – combined bookshop operations with the more traditional PostShop services. After acquiring 100% of the company in 2004 (by this stage the other 50% had been owned by WH Smith, owner of Whitcoulls bookshops) the entire operation was eventually sold to Paper Plus in 2005 and by 2006 all had been re-branded as Take Note.[12][13]

In 2002 New Zealand Post, as part of government policy, opened the bank Kiwibank Limited in the majority of its PostShop and Books and More (now Take Note) branches. Kiwibank is wholly owned by New Zealand Post through subsidiaries.[14]

In 2002 NZ Post bought The ECN Group which is now New Zealand Post's corporate venturing arm. Its purpose is to develop and market technologies and services that may replace or enhance New Zealand Post's traditional services. The ECN Group focuses on B2B messaging, business process management and systems integration, with a presence in New Zealand, Australia and Asia.[15][16]

New Zealand Post and Kiwibank shop at The Palms shopping centre in Shirley, Christchurch

In 2004 New Zealand Post announced the formation of Express Couriers Ltd (ECL), a 50:50 joint venture with courier company DHL. In 2008 New Zealand Post and DHL commenced a similar joint venture in Australia called Parcel Direct Group Pty Limited (PDG). In 2012 New Zealand Post purchased DHL's holdings in these two companies.[17] ECL operates extensive courier and logistics services throughout New Zealand and encompasses the CourierPost, Pace, RoadStar and Contract Logistics brands.

New Zealand Post also owned 35% of IT firm Datacom Group until December 2012.[18]

New Zealand Post also runs the Electoral Enrolment Centre as a business unit under contract to the Ministry of Justice. Its function is to compile and maintain all electoral rolls for parliamentary and local government elections.

On 6 July 2010, New Zealand Post registered a 100 percent stake in Localist Limited, a local directory and social media site focusing initially on the Auckland region.[19] This holding was sold in 2014 in a management buyout led by the then CEO, Christine Domecq.[20][21]

By end of June 2011, New Zealand Post will have 910 postal outlets and 280 PostShop Kiwibank stores after shuts and downgrades more than a dozen branches nationwide. To compensate, the company was also planning to install new self-service kiosks similar to ATMs for handling letters, bill payments and parcels.[22]

One of the ways New Zealand Post is trying to make up for lost revenue due to fewer people sending letters is partnering with other companies. The Post on 3 April 2017 announced that it will work with fast food restaurant chain KFC to have postal drivers deliver KFC's food to customers. The partnership will be piloted in the northern city of Tauranga, then expanded to more locations across New Zealand.[23]

• Postcodes in New Zealand
• Royal Mail
• Canada Post
• Australia Post

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Zealand Post.

• New Zealand Post Limited
• Postal Policy at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
• Kiwibank Limited
• New Zealand Post Stamps Centre