Ministers ask AusPost to ‘please explain’ after postie allegedly dumps voter mail in Blair

Politicians are demanding answers from Australia Post after a postie was filmed dumping LNP branded postal vote mailers into a wheelie bin. SEE THE VIDEO

Australia Post has been embroiled in a democracy scandal after a postie was caught on camera dumping hundreds of postal vote mailers into a wheelie bin in a marginal Queensland seat, in a “new dimension” of misconduct prompting high-level ministerial intervention.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and Communication Minister Paul Fletcher have written to Australia Post seeking answers amid fears the incident in Labor-held Blair was not a one-off affair, and would harm public confidence in the company’s reliability particularly in democratic activities.

It is alleged, as viewed in CCTV footage, an Australia Post postie sidled up to a wheelie bin outside a home in the Ipswich suburb of Redbank Plains, and dumped at least 500 LNP branded postal vote applications.

Annette Weller, Kevin Weller, Senator Paul Scarr with the dumped mailers. Picture Supplied

Resident Annette Weller said she rang LNP Senator Paul Scarr after the mail was dumped on Thursday afternoon and took the bin in for safe keeping.

But the postie later returned and when confronted about the dump denied any involvement until Ms Weller revealed she had video footage.

“He said I’m sorry then drove off, five minutes later drove into (my) driveway and opened up his wallet and tried to (bribe) me $10,” she said.

“I saw red, I just lost my s***, told him to f-off. It’s disgusting.”

Australian Federal Police confirmed it had “received a referral in relation to an alleged dumping of Federal Election-related mail articles”, with an Australia Post investigator also visiting the Weller house on Friday.

Australia Post chief executive Paul Graham confirmed the postie involved had been “suspended effective immediately” and said the company took “full responsibility” for the “completely unacceptable” behaviour.

The incident has been described as a “new dimension of misconduct” and “very disturbing” by Ministers Birmingham and Fletcher in a strongly worded letter to Australia Post chair Lucio Di Bartolomeo.

An Australia Post postie was caught on camera dumping thousands of LNP postal vote applications into a homeowners bin in the marginal Queensland seat of Blair before offering the woman a $10 bribe to keep quiet about it. Picture Supplied,

“We regard this incident as very disturbing, given the potential criminal dimensions of this conduct and the inference that the employee acted on a presumption that there were not effective controls to ensure that they were performing their duties,” they wrote.

“We are concerned about the implications of this matter for public confidence in the reliability of Australia Post’s commercial services and the even more significant implications for impartial services to clients who participate in Australian democracy, such as political parties and candidates.”

The Ministers said while this could be a case of “an individual employee” going rogue, reports of election mail going undelivered was not unprecedented.

“This case does however include new dimensions of misconduct that go beyond any complaint we have heard of in recent history,” they wrote.

Mr Graham, in a statement, apologised “unreservedly” on behalf of Australia Post.

“This behaviour is completely unacceptable and we will continue to reinforce with our team the important role that we play during elections and adherence to our procedures and service commitment,” he said.

Originally published as Ministers ask AusPost to ‘please explain’ after postie allegedly dumps voter mail in Blair