Another obstacle faced by the town was a lack of Post Office, sounds fairly trivial, until you know the whole story. Kinglake within 72 hours of being burnt out were offered a Post Office in the township of Whittlesea. This Post Office was used until April and then a more permanent building was erected on the mountain for Kinglake residents,
The same was not offered to Marysville residents, in fact the Post Office that was initially set up for the Kinglake residents was meant to be moved to Marysville. It was still sitting in exactly the same place until July. I got sick of waiting for Australia Post to take action, so took things into my own hands. The outcome being that within 72 hours the temporary post office was relocated to Marysville and postal services and deliveries recommenced to those residents living in and around the township. By checking the Australia Post Charter AND the Commonwealth Act regarding postal services I was able to determine that
“Australia Post shall ensure:
(a) that, in view of the social importance of the letter service, the service is reasonably accessible to all people in Australia on an equitable basis, wherever they reside or carry on business; and
(b) that the performance standards (including delivery times) for the letter service reasonably meet the social, industrial and commercial needs of the Australian community.”
So Marysville had a mail service again – a small victory – but a victory all the same.
Just before Christmas – finally some shops opened in town – where you could buy your newspaper and some milk – instead of travelling 30-40km to get basic supplies. It took almost 10 months, but thanks to the generosity of a building owner – things moved ahead.
This is almost the end of my story - only one more chapter to go. I've hung onto this story for so long - I almost know it word for word. Reading it I can see in my minds eye - the events as though they were yesterday.
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