Federal Member for Spence, Matt Burnell has received confirmation from Australia Post that they will be conducting a Mail Delivery Poll in the Virginia township.

This poll will determine if eligible households would prefer to receive their mail via a streetside delivery service, or have the service remain the same; with residents collecting their mail through a reduced-rate Post Office Box (PO Box) or over the counter at Virginia Licensed Post Office (LPO).  

Late last year, Mr Burnell reached out to Australia Post directly, given the concerns he’d received from Virginia residents regarding their local postal service.

In February, Australia Post responded, saying they had read through the concerns from residents and planned on putting in place “several initiatives” to address the issue immediately.

However, these initiatives didn’t include the residents living in the newly-developed areas of Virginia.

In the first week of March this year, Mr Burnell and State Member for Taylor Nick Champion held community meetings within Virginia, to hear first-hand how postal issues were impacting residents.

As the result of another meeting between Australia Post and Mr Burnell, on April 11 it was announced the Mail Delivery Poll was going ahead, and would run from Monday, 6 May 2024 to Friday, 31 May, 2024.

Australia Post outlined that one eligible household is entitled to one vote and this poll would distribute throughout newly-developed areas within Virginia.

However, for the residents vote to count, they must return their polling form before the end date.

If residents choose not to respond or not to vote in the poll, this will be counted as a vote against the change; meaning residents don’t want their postal service to change.

Mr Burnell is encouraging residents to check their mailboxes or PO Boxes during May, and ensure they have their say regarding postal services in Virginia.

“This is a long time coming for residents in Virginia. Many have expressed to me that for years they have had their mail redirected to family members homes, sometimes hours away because they cannot get a local PO Box or simply, mail delivered to their home,” Mr Burnell said.

“Having home access to post is something we all believe is a given, especially in a now built up, metropolitan community.

“I will continue to work alongside the Virginia residents to see their postal service improved.”