Canberra mailing houses are slowing down during the lead up to the 2016 Federal election, with regular government work slashed as campaigns heat up and distribution is directed to major cities.

Direct mail businesses in the ACT region are usually swamped with political publication dispatch work, however the Canberra mail houses have found government work drying up as the election draws closer.

Stephen Conroy, director of National Mailing and Marketing in Hume, ACT says 80 per cent of the mailing house’s work is from the government, and finds overall turnover has dropped as the parties head to the polls.

“When the Federal election commences a lot of mailing distribution from Canberra stops and work starts to wind down,” says Conroy.

“Regular publications tick along, but we deal with far less political work. Usually we would have about 5000 pallets worth of government content to distribute.”

Conroy says a large portion of local party distribution is done by volunteers in state offices, and mailing houses in areas such as Sydney and Melbourne are flooded with party work instead.

This year, more than one million postal ballets will be sent through Australia Post’s priority mail. The Australian Electoral Commission is slated to be working closely with Aus Post to ensure ballot papers are delivered on time.

The lapse in mail work follows the closure of Customer Connect’s direct mail division in Melbourne.

Owner Marc Marantz is liquidating his suite of mail processing machinery and selling off his mailing division, offering eight machines which he says can be immediately put to use during election season.

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