Dave Hughes joins impassioned community fight to save his local post office as he admits he is ‘devastated’ by string of Australia Post closures

Dave ‘Hughesy’ Hughes has joined the community fight to save his local post office in suburban Melbourne as Australia Post faces a series of closures.

The 53-year-old radio presenter shared his passionate thoughts as more than 100 residents gathered outside the St Kilda South post office on Thursday to protest its closure.

Australia Post recently announced that it plans to close the branch on July 19 due to declining footfall. According to the organization, visits to the branch have fallen by 20 percent.

However, locals are fiercely opposed to the news, arguing that it is an important community hub, particularly for elderly and disabled residents who rely on the nearby post office.

Comedian Hughesy joined the call to action when he spoke to A Current Affair while shopping at the local branch, where residents had gathered to hang up their petition.

“I am absolutely devastated! This is my local post office and they cannot close this post office down,” said Hughesy, who has lived in St Kilda for 25 years.

“This is not right, this is not right! I don’t know who – what are we going to do? This is insane. This post office is a local institution and it should not be closed.”

Residents of St Kilda have signed and sent a petition to Australia Post CEO Paul Graham to save the future of their post office, urging him to keep the local branch open.

“We want the post office to stay,” Angel, a long-time St Kilda resident, told A Current Affair.

Meanwhile, local federal MP Josh Burns said: “I have raised this issue with Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.

“We had a meeting about how important this post office is to our community. I do everything I can to support our community and I will continue to do so.”

The post office in Frankston, in Melbourne’s south-east, will also close next month after customer numbers fell by 40 percent since 2020.

However, locals have doubts about the figures, claiming that the Covid-19 pandemic from early 2020 to mid-2023 would have had a major impact on visitor numbers.

“That four-year period includes the long lockdowns in Victoria, so of course the numbers are lower,” said Janet Rosenberg, chair of the Acland Street Village Business Association.

Australia Post argued that there are 30 post offices within 5km of the St Kilda South branch, while the nearest alternative office is 1.2km away.

Although there are other branches in St Kilda West, on St Kilda Road and Brighton Road, many angry residents say it is not as simple as simply visiting another branch.

The 53-year-old radio presenter shared his passionate thoughts with A Current Affair as more than 100 local residents gathered outside the St Kilda South post office on Thursday to protest its closure.

They said that older residents in particular depend on their local branch being within walking distance and that they do not have a car, meaning that they now have to travel to the nearest branch by public transport.

They argued that it is an important community hub and the closure will impact local businesses as fewer people come into the area.

Australia Post, which has more than 4,200 post offices nationwide, said it made a $200 million loss in the last financial year and that it was not “sustainable” to maintain its large network, suggesting more closures could be in the future.

“As more people transact online, it is no longer financially sustainable to maintain such a large network of post offices, especially in metropolitan areas where there is significant oversupply,” the statement said.

‘All team members from St Kilda South and Frankston Central have been offered employment at post offices nearby or closer to home.

‘Australia Post continues to regularly review its retail network and carefully considers when to close, relocate or open post offices.’

Australia Post has more than 4,200 branches nationwide and has to maintain 4,000, of which 2,500 are in regional areas. According to CEO Graham, in some areas there are more post offices than supermarkets.

Australia Post announced on July 19 that they were planning to close the branch due to declining footfall. They said that visits to the branch had fallen by 20%, but locals have protested the move.

Earlier this year, Graham faced huge backlash when he warned that more post offices would have to close to keep the business viable.

Following a postal sector overhaul last year, Australia Post confirmed improved performance in the first half of 2024, delivering a record nearly 100 million parcels.

The service reported interim profits of $33.6 million, prompting many local politicians and post office workers to protest news of further closures.

Despite the first-half profit, Australia Post said its letters division still reported a loss of $182 million, as falling customer visits to post offices impacted the “long-term viability” of the business.

Mr Graham also said Australia Post was on track to make another total loss this year, after losing $200 million in the previous financial year.