Small town fights back after Australia Post abandoned their community - as locals are forced to travel for essential services

Published: 01:30, 24 June 2026 | Updated: 01:30, 24 June 2026 A small town in New South Wales has scored a win against Australia Post after its local post office was closed, forcing residents to travel to other towns for some services.  Coleambally in the Riverina lost its only licensed post office (LPO) in February when the private operator stepped away. Locals were left with only basic postal services via the town pharmacy but it does not provide banking, BPAY bill payments, parcel tracking or PO boxes. Residents needing these additional services must travel to neighbouring towns like Darlington Point, which is almost 30km away. Coleambally mayor Ruth McRae told About Regional that the town was struggling with the loss of its LPO.  'They tell us to just go to the nearest post office. We are 55km from Griffith, 29km from Darlington Point,' she said. 'There's no public transport, we have an aged population… quite frankly this small rural community is suffering greatly from the withdrawal of an essential service.'  More than 200 disgruntled residents, led by Independent MP for Murray Helen Dalton, held a rally in the town's main shopping area in April in response to the loss.  Coleambally in the Riverina lost its only licensed post office in February (Pictured, a general view of an Australia Post in Melbourne) Independent MP Helen Dalton (centre) held a rally in April over the loss Australia Post said it was working to bring the office back and that a review of the current service model was underway. This included inviting feedback from residents to 'understand local needs and determine the most suitable and viable option for the future'. But Ms McRae claimed the organisation rejected Murrumbidgee Council's offer to help restore the facility. 'I know for a fact that council made an approach when this first happened that council would take up the licence, that we could set apart and make space within our local office in Coleambally, and we had no take-up or no genuine response on whether that would be an option at all,' she said.  Dalton questioned Australia Post's chief executive Paul Graham on the issue at the end of a PR event at Parliament House in May. 'You've been very, very slow with your correspondence,' she said. 'Are you slowing the process down and hoping Coleambally will go away because I tell you, they won't go away.' But Mr Graham said Australia Post had not given up on finding a new operator to run the town's LPO. Dalton questioned Australia Post's chief executive Paul Graham on the loss of the post office Locals only have access to basic postal services in Marilyn's Pharmacy (pictured) but not banking, BPAY bill payments, parcel tracking or PO boxes 'I've been to many of the other ones and [know it can be a] loss of identity for the town when the banks or other services pull out,' he said. A spokesperson for Australia Post confirmed to the Daily Mail this week that an expression of interest (EOI) process was launched for a new LPO.  'We know how important postal services are to the Coleambally community and are reviewing submissions for a new LPO operator after an EOI process closed on Friday,' they said. 'When the previous LPO closed suddenly, Marilyn's Pharmacy stepped in at short notice to operate as a Community Postal Agency, ensuring continued access to postal services with no disruption for customers.' Dalton said the launch of the EOI process was the result of the town's 'refusal to take it lying down'. 'When a town pulls together and speaks with one voice, that voice becomes too big to ignore, and Coleambally has just proved it,' she said. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.