👉 Background: Australia Post is Australia's government-owned postal service company. It started way back in 1809 and is one of the world's oldest continuously operating postal services.

👉 What happened: Australia Post has a network of over 4,300 stores across Australia. Now, third party delivery companies are pushing to get access to Australia Post's infrastructure to deliver to consumers faster. (Think: Aus Post's PO Boxes and parcel lockers)

👉 What else: Australia Post doesn't believe that generating revenue via third-party delivery services is a juicy enough deal to solve their money troubles. But as a government-owned company, Australia Post also needs to look at more than just their financials in business decisions.

What's the key learning?

💡Government-owned companies are for-profit organisations that also serve a specific public interest. Sometimes, these companies can get stuck between a rock and real hard place: catering to public interest, while looking after their future financial viability.

💡Last year, government-owned NBN was looking to increase the cost of their entry-tier internet plans and lock in price hikes in 2024. But, they backed out of their initial pricing changes after an angry response from customers and telco businesses.

💡 So when it comes to Aus Post, they have to make sure whatever they decide won't hurt the public.