WHAT THE P.O. DOES

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31863, 16 December 1968, Page 23

WHAT THE P.O. DOES

• Provides savings facilities . . . • Looks after people's savings. Depositors’ funds in 2.6 million accounts total almost $879.6 million. • Has deposits and withdrawal service at 1166 Post Offices. • Handles annually 20.1 million deposits and withdrawals —value $994.7 million. • Credits interest on deposits—last year $27.2 million. • Invests Savings Bank funds in Government Securities for use in’financing national works and development projects—sB72.2 million currently invested. • Transfers net profit on Post Office Savings services to Consolidated Revenue Account. Last year $1.2 million. • Remits over 2,200,000 money orders from place to place. • Sells nearly 2,662,000 postal notes. • Provides on demand withdrawal services for travellers. • Handles average daily cash transactions of more than $6 million. • Provides community facilities . . . • Refunds duty bn motor spirits. • Is a registrar of births, deaths and marriages. • Issues radio licences. 657,000 current licences. • Issues TV licences. Nearly 576,000 licences. • Registers motor vehicles. Over 1,312,000 vehicles registered. 9 Owns and operates Public Service garages. Just under 500 vehicles available for hire to other Government departments. • Buys stores for other Government departments as well as for Post Office requirements. • Collects land income and social security taxes. • Collects nearly $38.7 million in State Advances payments. • Receives wages due to children boarded out by Child Welfare Department • Pays Social Security benefits to over 1 million people, including widows' war, old age, and invalid pensions, child benefit allowances, etc. • Registers orchards and poultry farms. • Gives out warnings regarding the state of rivers. • Observes and reports the weather. • Notifies movements of ships. • Co-operates with the Civil Aviation Department in contacting aircraft equipped with radio. • Provides communication facilities . . . • Handles postings of over 568 million letters and other articles for destinations within New Zealand and overseas. • Sells 300 million stamps annually. • Provides telephone service for 752,000 subscribers . —the third highest telephone density in the world with 40.6 telephones for every 100 persons. • Administers New Zealand's overseas telephone links over 381,500 inward and outward calls. • Provides “111” emergency services at 158 exchanges, serving over half of total subscribers in New Zealand. • Handles nearly 67.4 million toll calls each year. • Provides over 4300 public slot telephones. • Administers short and long-range radio-telegraph and radio-telephone services for ships. Over 1900 telephone calls and over 74,800 telegrams handled. • Maintains a mobile radio service for taxis, businesses, fire brigades, etc. Total of over 17,082 radio-equipped vehicles now in use. • Supplies leased telecommunication facilities both internal and international, for Government departments and private organisations. • Transmits over 6 million inland telegrams. • Handles nearly 1.9 million international telegrams. • Provides a Telex service—both internal and international. • Handles over 2100 international phototelegrams a year.