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61-658: Australia Post , formally the Australian Postal Corporation and also known as AusPost , is an Australian Government-owned corporation that provides postal services throughout Australia. Australia Post's head office is located on Swan Street in Richmond Victoria. Australia Post is the successor of the Postmaster-General's Department , which was established at federation in 1901 to formalise colonial postal services. In 1975,

122-576: A Tacoma court and was sentenced to two years imprisonment and five years of supervised release or probation in an Internet $ 1 million "Nigerian check scam". She conspired to commit bank, wire and mail fraud against US citizens, specifically using Internet by having an accomplice ship counterfeit checks and money orders to her from Lagos , Nigeria in November 2007. Fiedler shipped out $ 609,000 fake check and money orders when arrested and prepared to send additional $ 1.1 million counterfeit materials. Also,

183-514: A broad range of distribution options to track and trace deliveries. Australia Post offers a number of digital services outside of their main mail/parcel/logistics area. These include employment screening, online payment services and a digital identity platform. Australia Post now offers parcel lockers at over 500 locations near post offices, supermarkets and railway stations. These lockers are free to use for Australia Post deliveries and can be picked up at anytime during day or night. Once delivered,

244-430: A financially self-sustaining business. In September 2015, the corporation announced its first loss in 30 years. The A$ 222 million loss was down from a $ 116 million profit the previous year. Large decreases in addressed and stamped mail led to a $ 381 million loss in the mail delivery side of the business. Parcel delivery then accounted for over half of total revenue. Overall revenue was stable at $ 6.37 billion. In August

305-853: A fleet of custom-designed electric vehicles, amongst others. In 2019, with parcels deliveries increasing while letter deliveries falling, the Post Office transferred several thousand workers from letters to parcels. Letter deliveries were reduced from five days per week to two days per week. In 2021, Australia Post began using its first electric trucks; three Fuso Ecanters in Melbourne. Responding to competitive pressures, Australia Post continued to broaden its product and service range in 2019, having invested in extensive technology-based infrastructure programmes. It operates in three core areas: letters and associated services; retail merchandise and agency services; and parcels and logistics. It has

366-461: A large amount due to cost restraints on behalf of offenders. E-mail is today the prevalent way in which scam letters are distributed. Due to its cost-effectiveness and international reach, offenders prefer this method as victims are reached in a much more timely manner. Often offenders will target busy Internet-based forums and chat rooms where they will circulate their scam letters to registered users. Generally, law enforcement agencies from around

427-434: A new strategy dubbed "Future Ready" designed to reinvigorate Australia Post. This included a new organisation structure as well as a renewed foray into digital businesses under the "eServices" strategic business unit . However, in 2013, the corporation acknowledged that, though the strategy was successful in improving Australia Post's profitability and structure, it was insufficient in its contributions to their development as

488-419: A number of subsidiaries and joint ventures, including Sai Cheng Logistics International—a joint-venture logistics company established with China Post in 2005. Australia Post operates regular mail delivery as well as an express/courier service through Messenger Post (Now trading as Startrack Courier). Australia Post is self-funding and uses its assets and resources to generate profits, which can be reinvested in

549-507: A piece of software. The terms and conditions state that the account requires a subscription of 8 euros per month for a minimum of 24 months, but that the user forfeits the right to cancel. The user will then receive threatening invoices from the company. Today there exist many forms of scam letters distributed on the Internet. The mentioned examples above act as an indication of how these scam letters work and how victims are defrauded. In

610-661: A public objective. For that reason, SOEs primarily operate in the domain of infrastructure (e.g., railway companies), strategic goods and services (e.g., postal services, arms manufacturing and procurement), natural resources and energy (e.g., nuclear facilities, alternative energy delivery), politically sensitive business, broadcasting, banking, demerit goods (e.g., alcoholic beverages ), and merit goods (healthcare). SOEs can also help foster industries that are "considered economically desirable and that would otherwise not be developed through private investments". When nascent or 'infant' industries have difficulty getting investments from

671-497: A recipient misrepresenting the truth with the aim of gaining an advantage in a fraudulent manner. Currently it is unclear how far back the origin of scam letters date. The oldest reference to the origin of scam letters could be found at the Spanish Prisoner scam. This scam dates back to the 1580s, where the fictitious prisoner would promise to share non-existent treasure with the person who would send him money to bribe

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732-495: A regular enterprise, state-owned enterprises are typically expected to be less efficient due to political interference, but unlike profit-driven enterprises they are more likely to focus on government objectives. In Eastern Europe and Western Europe , there was a massive nationalization throughout the 20th century, especially after World War II . In the Eastern Bloc , countries adopted very similar policies and models to

793-408: A state or territory are authorised to request Australia Post to open packets and parcels sent from interstate for inspection when inspectors believe they may contain quarantine material. The legislation also authorises Australia Post to remove any mail articles that are suspected of being scam mail . In February 2010, Ahmed Fahour was appointed MD (CEO) of Australia Post. In May 2010, he announced

854-564: Is Norseman , Western Australia to Border Village , South Australia : 1,460 km (910 mi). The longest air service delivers to remote communities in the outback covering 1,790 km (1,110 mi) over two days. The last remaining mailboat service operates still on the Hawkesbury River to the north of Sydney, out of Brooklyn ― The Riverboat Postman. The most isolated Post Office is located 217 km (135 mi) from Onslow, Western Australia , 32 km (20 mi) from

915-562: Is a viable argument for SOEs is debated. SOEs are also frequently employed in areas where the government wants to levy user fees , but finds it politically difficult to introduce new taxation. Next, SOEs can be used to improve efficiency of public service delivery or as a step towards (partial) privatization or hybridization. SOEs can also be a means to alleviate fiscal stress, as SOEs may not count towards states' budgets. Compared to government bureaucracy, state owned enterprises might be beneficial because they reduce politicians' influence over

976-764: Is approximately 70% of total employment. State-owned enterprises are thus a major factor behind Belarus's high employment rate and a source of stable employment. In most OPEC countries, the governments own the oil companies operating on their soil. A notable example is the Saudi Arabian national oil company , Saudi Aramco , which the Saudi government bought in 1988, changing its name from Arabian American Oil Company to Saudi Arabian Oil Company. The Saudi government also owns and operates Saudi Arabian Airlines , and owns 70% of SABIC as well as many other companies. China's state-owned enterprises are owned and managed by

1037-469: Is contestable under what circumstances a SOE qualifies as "owned" by a state (SOEs can be fully owned or partially owned; it is difficult to determine categorically what level of state ownership would qualify an entity to be considered as state-owned since governments can also own regular stock , without implying any special interference). Finally, the term "enterprise" is challenged, as it implies statutes in private law which may not always be present, and so

1098-617: Is highlighted in the predominant local terminology, with SOEs in Canada referred to as a " Crown corporation ", and in New Zealand as a " Crown entity ". The term " government-linked company " (GLC) is sometimes used, for example in Malaysia , to refer to private or public (listed on a stock exchange) corporate entities in which the government acquires a stake using a holding company . The two main definitions of GLCs are dependent on

1159-448: Is too high." On 23 February 2017, Fahour announced his resignation, effective July 2017, telling media that the decision was not related to discussion of his salary. In October 2019, Australia Post completed a major rebranding project with Melbourne-based brand strategy firm Maud. This project saw the development of a new brand identity, website and self-service platform, parcel and letter packaging, street posting boxes, staff uniforms, and

1220-576: The Honda CT110 ) are used for delivery on about 6,600 routes, bicycles on 350 routes and walking for 1,000 routes. Electric-assisted bicycles were introduced in Victoria in 2011. Cars, trucks and vans are used on only the longest routes. Until the 1960s the longest, and the world's longest, overland mail route was Meekatharra to Marble Bar , Western Australia . As there were few roads, a round trip took seven days. The current longest overland route

1281-482: The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG). This body was responsible for telegraph and domestic telephone operations as well as postal mail. An airmail service was introduced in 1914. In 1967, 4-digit postcodes in Australia were introduced, in addition to the world's first mechanical processing centre, which garnered international attention. On 1 July 1975, separate government commissions were created to undertake

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1342-715: The State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) . China's state-owned enterprises generally own and operate public services, resource extraction or defense. As of 2017 , China has more SOEs than any other country, and the most SOEs among large national companies. China's SOEs perform functions such as: contributing to central and local governments revenues through dividends and taxes, supporting urban employment, keeping key input prices low, channeling capital towards targeted industries and technologies, supporting sub-national redistribution to poorer interior and western provinces, and aiding

1403-409: The 'account', the log-in details are sent to the offenders. This is yet another scam where the misrepresentation is made as an offer for cheap medical products and computer software. Often, when ordered, victims will not receive the goods or in certain instances a fake version of the goods ordered. Often users will find the letter from a young and attractive female wanting to meet or relocate to

1464-882: The Minister of Finance II, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, the Chief Secretary to the Government, Secretary General of Treasury and the heads of each of the GLICs (the Employees Provident Fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad , Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (the armed forces pension fund), Lembaga Tabung Haji and Permodalan Nasional Berhad . Khazanah Nasional Berhad provided

1525-1019: The USSR. Governments in Western Europe, both left and right of centre, saw state intervention as necessary to rebuild economies shattered by war. Government control over natural monopolies like industry was the norm. Typical sectors included telephones , electric power , fossil fuels , iron ore , railways , airlines , media , postal services , banks , and water . Many large industrial corporations were also nationalized or created as government corporations, including, among many others: British Steel Corporation , Equinor , and Águas de Portugal . A state-run enterprise may operate differently from an ordinary limited liability corporation. For example, in Finland, state-run enterprises ( liikelaitos ) are governed by separate laws. Even though responsible for their own finances, they cannot be declared bankrupt ;

1586-896: The base rate for domestic letters was $ 1.10. Since about 2005, larger letters have been charged a round multiple of the base postage rate, which is helpful to customers if they do not have stocks of the more expensive stamps. A large letter, including packaging, cannot be more than 20mm thick or larger than 260x360mm, otherwise it will be considered a parcel, which as of July 2023 costs a minimum of $ 10.60 (up to 500 grams). Agency services: Australia Post provides third-party agency services that connect consumers, businesses and government bodies such as bill payment services, banking services and identity services. Australia Post also offers personal finance products, such as car and travel insurance and currency conversion. Retail Merchandise: A variety of complementary products, packaging products, collectibles and post office boxes and locked bags are offered across

1647-412: The basic domestic letter rate was increased to $ 1.00 on 4 January 2016, there were no changes to prices of concession stamps or seasonal greeting stamps, which remained at 60 cents and 65 cents respectively. At the same time, a category of "Priority" mail was introduced (as distinct from "Regular"), under which delivery standards were varied and a 50-cent Priority label was required as additional payment for

1708-681: The better standard. Under the Australian Postal Corporation Act 1989, letters up to 250 grams are reserved to Australia Post – other people and businesses can only carry them if they charge four times the basic postage rate. All of the other goods and services provided by Australia Post are sold in fully competitive markets and, in 2005–06, nearly 90 per cent of the corporation's profit (from ordinary activities before net interest and tax) came from selling products and services in competitive markets. Empty cells have no data available for that year. All results as at 30 June of

1769-578: The building, then perpetrated what came to be known as the Queen Street massacre . The mass shooting left eight Australia Post and other company employees dead. The perpetrator fell to his death from the building while struggling with a security guard. The incident resulted in calls to strengthen gun control laws in Australia . Under amendments to the Australian Postal Corporation Act which came into effect in March 2008, quarantine inspection officers of

1830-523: The business or returned as dividends to its sole shareholder, the Australian Government . Under its community service obligations, Australia Post is committed to providing an accessible, affordable and reliable letter service for all Australians wherever they reside. The corporation reaches more than 10 million Australian addresses; operates 4,330 postal outlets; and serves more than a million customers in postal outlets every business day. When

1891-529: The department was abolished and its postal functions were taken over by the Australian Postal Commission. The organisation's current name and structure were adopted in 1989 when it was made into a government-owned corporation . Before colonial control of mail started in 1809, mail was usually passed on by ad hoc arrangements made between transporters, storekeepers and settlers. These arrangements were flexible, and inherently unstable. It

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1952-416: The entire Australian community and between Australia and other countries overseas. It also offers bulk mail delivery services for businesses and community organisations and provides research, advice, consumer list rental, and profiling and segmentation services to help businesses target their objectives and customers, along with other associated services. While postal services of letters and parcels are one of

2013-425: The following year, Australia Post returned to profit with strong parcel and courier performance, and organisation re-structuring. However, mail performance reached an all-time low. In February 2017, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull criticised CEO Ahmed Fahour's $ 5.6 million annual salary, saying "As the Prime Minister and a taxpayer, I've spoken to the chairman today. I think that salary, that remuneration,

2074-507: The form of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). The Malaysian government launched a GLC Transformation Programme for its linked companies and linked investment companies ("GLICs") on 29 July 2005, aiming over a ten-year period to transform these businesses "into high-performing entities". The Putrajaya Committee on GLC High Performance ("PCG"), which oversaw this programme, was chaired by the Prime Minister , and membership included

2135-487: The guards. Today scam letters are a general part of electronic life, ending up in mailboxes in hordes. Based on mostly the same principles as the Nigerian 419 advance-fee fraud scam, this scam letter informs recipients that their e-mail addresses have been drawn in online lotteries and that they have won large sums of money. Here the victims will also be required to pay substantial small amounts of money in order to have

2196-412: The leading application of the incomplete contract theory to the issue of state-owned enterprises. These authors compare a situation in which the government is in control of a firm to a situation in which a private manager is in control. The manager can invest to come up with cost-reducing and quality-enhancing innovations. The government and the manager bargain over the implementation of the innovations. If

2257-630: The mandated basic rate. For version of this table showing inflation, see List of postage rates in Australia . In July 2009, Australia Post requested the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to approve a stamp price rise in 2010 to 60 cents but the ACCC declined the approval of the price rise, however in April 2010, Australia Post resubmitted the proposed postal stamp rise. The ACCC approved this request on 28 May 2010 and it

2318-504: The nearest customer. The highest Post Office is located in Perisher Ski Resort at 1720m above sea level. According to the 2019 annual report, Australia Post: and had: Undelivered items go to the mail redistribution centres, which attempt to return the items to their senders. In February 2015, Australia Post reported a 56% fall in its half-year profit from 2014, a loss of A$ 151m. The first full-year loss in over 30 years

2379-592: The negotiations fail, the owner can decide about the implementation. It turns out that when cost-reducing innovations do not harm quality significantly, then private firms are to be preferred. Yet, when cost-reductions may strongly reduce quality, state-owned enterprises are superior. Hoppe and Schmitz (2010) have extended this theory in order to allow for a richer set of governance structures, including different forms of public-private partnerships . SOEs are common with natural monopolies , because they allow capturing economies of scale while they can simultaneously achieve

2440-529: The network of Australia Post outlets in Australia. Australia Post is one of organisations of issuing agency of Australian Passport along with Australian Passport Office of Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade . Australia Post collects, processes and delivers single parcels or multi-parcel consignments all across Australia and internationally. It also provides complete end-to-end supply chain capabilities, from manufacturer (domestic or international) to consumer with integrated logistics services and

2501-731: The operational responsibilities of the PMG. One of these was the Australian Postal Commission. It later became the Australian Postal Corporation on 1 January 1989 when it was corporatised into what is now known as the Australian Postal Corporation, or Australia Post. In December 1987, 21-year-old Melbourne University student Frank Vitkovic, while experiencing a mental health crisis, entered the Australian Post building located at 191 Queen Street in Melbourne and spoke "animatedly" with an unidentified friend who worked in

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2562-485: The original areas of Australia Post, it has also diversified its operations into the provision of other services including agency services, business-to-business integration and logistics and supply chain management (see below). The basic postage rate for a small letter has increased over the years due to inflation but influenced in recent years by a complex interplay between Australia Post's monopoly over small items, and need to provide service to all Australian addresses at

2623-418: The package must be picked up within 48 hours. State-owned enterprise The terminology around the term state-owned enterprise is murky. All three words in the term are challenged and subject to interpretation. First, it is debatable what the term "state" implies (e.g., it is unclear whether municipally owned corporations and enterprises held by regional public bodies are considered state-owned). Next, it

2684-462: The past, before the introduction of electronic communications, scam letters were posted by normal postal services, which had been a slow and tedious method of defrauding victims. Although this method tremendously decreased its appearance today, it still occurs that a victim might receive the posted scam letter. Faxed scam letters are in no way an uncommon occurrence. Today many scam letters are still faxed to corporate institutions, although they are not

2745-567: The postmasters' domain were serviced by contractors on horsebacks or in coaches. In 1825, the New South Wales Legislative Council passed the Postal Act which transferred responsibility from Nichols, acting as a private company, to the governor . The governor would then set the wage of the postmaster and the cost of collecting mail. Following federation in 1901, the colonial mail systems were merged into

2806-399: The private sector (perhaps because the good that is being produced requires very risky investments, when patenting is difficult, or when spillover effects exist), the government can help these industries get on the market with positive economic effects. However, the government cannot necessarily predict which industries would qualify as such 'infant industries', and so the extent to which this

2867-428: The proportion of the corporate entity a government owns. One definition purports that a company is classified as a GLC if a government owns an effective controlling interest (more than 50%), while the second definition suggests that any corporate entity that has a government as a shareholder is a GLC. The act of turning a part of government bureaucracy into a SOE is called corporatization . In economic theory ,

2928-451: The question of whether a firm should be owned by the state or by the private sector is studied in the theory of incomplete contracts developed by Oliver Hart and his co-authors. In a world in which complete contracts were feasible, ownership would not matter because the same incentive structure that prevails under one ownership structure could be replicated under the other ownership structure. Hart, Shleifer, and Vishny (1997) have developed

2989-542: The secretariat to the PCG and managed the implementation of the programme, which was completed in 2015. As of 2024, Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is the most profitable state-owned enterprise in the Philippines. It is the third largest contributor to government revenues, following taxes and customs. Scam letters A scam letter is a document, distributed electronically or otherwise, to

3050-469: The service. Conversely, they might be detrimental because they reduce oversight and increase transaction costs (such as monitoring costs, i.e., it is more difficult and costly to govern and regulate an autonomous SOE than it is the public bureaucracy). Evidence suggests that existing SOEs are typically more efficient than government bureaucracy, but that this benefit diminishes as services get more technical and have less overt public objectives. Compared to

3111-465: The state answers for the liabilities. Stocks of the corporation are not sold and loans have to be government-approved, as they are government liabilities. State-owned enterprises are a major component of the economy of Belarus . The Belarusian state-owned economy includes enterprises that are fully state-owned, as well as others which are joint-stock companies with partial ownership by the state. Employment in state-owned or state-controlled enterprises

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3172-497: The state's response to natural disasters, financial crises and social instability. China's SOEs are at the forefront of global seaport-building, and most new ports constructed by them are done within the auspices of the Belt and Road Initiative . As of at least 2024, an Ethiopian SOE is Africa's largest and most profitable airline, as well as Ethiopia's largest earner of foreign exchange. In India , government enterprises exist in

3233-542: The term "corporations" is frequently used instead. Thus, SOEs are known under many other terms: state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, government-owned company, government controlled company, government controlled enterprise, government-owned corporation, government-sponsored enterprise , commercial government agency, state-privatised industry public sector undertaking, or parastatal, among others. In some Commonwealth realms , ownership by The Crown

3294-577: The users' country. After invoking their confidence trick on the user they will require the recipient of the scam letter to pay the funds necessary for the relocation. Once paid, the correspondence ends and the writer never appears. Users of some Web sites are sometimes faced with invoices from Internet sites which they have visited. One company with a reputation for this is the Swiss-German based company Media Intense GmBH, which runs win-load.net. Users are asked to create an account before downloading

3355-428: The winning money released, which never materializes. Phishing scam letters, in short, are a notification from an online 'financial institution', requiring its clients to log into their accounts and verify or change their log-in details. A fraudulent website is set up by offenders, which appears to be the website of the actual financial institution. Once a victim follows the log-in link from the scam letter and logs into

3416-407: The world are interested in scam letters where actual losses incurred upon a victim. Due to the sheer volume of scam letters distributed on the Internet, no law enforcement agency will be in a position to investigate every scam letter reported. Most law enforcement agencies have a method of reporting scam letters to them. Edna Fiedler, 44, of Olympia, Washington , on June 25, 2008, pleaded guilty in

3477-544: The year indicated. In June 2015, Australia Post announced that in view of mounting losses, and especially the accelerating decline in its letter delivery service, it would reduce its workforce by 1,900 over three years through voluntary redundancies . At the time, mail delivery losses were approaching $ 500 million for the 2014–15 financial year. As of 2019 however, Australia Post's workforce was broadly similar in numbers compared to 2015. Nationwide there are 7,950 postal routes serviced by 10,000 "posties". Motorcycles (including

3538-521: Was common for early settlers to ride many miles out of their way to deliver neighbours' mail that had been collected from informal distribution points. The first organisation of a postal service in Australia commenced in 1809 with the appointment in Sydney of the first postmaster . An English ex-convict, Isaac Nichols , took the post operating from his home in George Street, Sydney . His main job

3599-505: Was forecast. Managing Director, Ahmed Fahour noted this tied in with a worldwide decline of letter volumes over the past seven years. In February 2017, it was reported Fahour's reforms reduced potential 2015-16 losses, to A$ 138 million. Australia Post operates in three core markets: letters and associated services; agency services and retail merchandise; and parcels and logistics that span both domestic and international markets. Australia Post collects, processes and distributes letters for

3660-480: Was published in the Government Gazette on 9 June 2010. On 26 December 2013, due to the heavy decline in mail usage due to competition from email, etc., Australia Post requested an increase in the base rate to 70c. On 4 January 2016, due to the heavy decline in mail usage due to competition from email, etc., Australia Post requested an increase in the base rate to $ 1.00. As of 1 February 2020

3721-849: Was to take charge of letters and parcels arriving by ship, to avoid the chaos of people rushing aboard ships as soon as they arrived at Sydney's wharves. Nichols would pick up the mail and post a list of recipients outside his house. He would advertise in the Sydney Gazette the names of all those who received mail. Recipients paid a fixed price of one shilling per letter to collect mail from Nichols' home, with parcels costing more depending on how heavy they were. VIP addressees were afforded personal delivery by Nichols. Between 1812 and 1842, postmasters were also appointed in Tasmania (1812), Western Australia (1829), Victoria (1836), South Australia (1837) and Queensland (1842). Settlements outside of

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