PIAA director of government relations Mary-Jo Fisher is urging the minister for finance and the minister for communications to pay attention to the industry, as resigning AusPost CEO Ahmed Fahour ignored them.
Fisher says, “We will be seeking a meeting on an urgent basis on with the minister for finance Mathias Cormann and minister for communication Mitch Fifield hot on the heels after CEO Fahour's resignation. We will be demanding that the government pay attention to the print and mailing industry – attention which we have not been able to get whilst Mr Fahour was CEO.”
“Minister Fifield’s office indicated to us that AusPost is not required to consult with businesses or our industry about the pricing of business mail. This allowed Ahmed Fahour to get away with running AusPost without any communication, engagement or negotiation with the print and mailing industry.”
[Related: PIAA lashes Fair Work Commission]
Fisher says the industry has been neglected by AusPost in recent years.
“Whilst business mail volumes have been declining, it is due in no small part to AusPost’s strategy under Mr Fahour’s leadership. I think it is fair to say the industry feels as if AusPost has treated it with contempt.
“The reason we want to meet with the ministers is to urge them to ensure the AusPost of the future engages proactively, constructively and genuinely with its biggest customer, the print and mailing sector,” she says.
PIAA CEO Andrew Macaulay commenting on Fahour’s resignation said it was a good day for the printing industry. “This is great news and should be a circuit breaker. Ahmed Fahour has been obdurate in his refusal to communicate, engage or negotiate with his major customer, the print and mailing industry. The strategy Mr Fahour has put in place has been damaging and has resulted in a fast decline of business mail volumes in Australia,” he says.
Fahour’s successor will work for a fraction of his $5.6m package, with the government saying the new pay will be in line with similar agency leaders – the head of the RBA receives $1m, while the CEO of the ABC is on around $900,000.
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