Former Te Awamutu based Waipā posties Danny and Ian Kennedy have abandoned their damages claim for breach of contract against NZ Post.
NZPost rural delivery contractors Ian and Danny Kennedy (left), with Pro Drovers Advocates CEO Peter Gallagher, were being solidly backed by their community.
The national postal service cancelled the couple’s contract to deliver “all mail and other items for delivery” in the RD3 Tamahere district in 2023 after they complained some mail was being delivered by another contractor.
The couple, who sold their Te Awamutu home and moved to the South Island last year, launched their damages claim after Justice Ian Gault said there were serious questions around the lawfulness of NZ Post’s termination notice.
The Kennedys were seeking damages for breach of contract and lost income.
Danny Kennedy declined to comment on their decision.
Pro Drive advocate Pete Gallagher who unsuccessfully sought a ministerial inquiry into the matter did comment.
“Perhaps the Minister does not truly appreciate how deeply embedded a culture of ‘denial, bluff, wastefulness and dishonesty’ is within NZ Post.
“Following the Minister’s directive, we met with senior NZ Post executives in November 2024. They were unprepared to answer any questions relative to the Kennedys, or to address wider issues of under remuneration and alleged misrepresentation, affecting multiple RD contractors throughout the Waikato and Taranaki, save for assurances that New Zealand Post ‘deeply valued its relationships with its business partners’.
“Ironically, this was said despite the fact that an earlier, independent financial report, identified substantial remuneration shortfalls within NZ Post’s flawed payments model, which resulted in significant financial settlements for the Taranaki contractors. Nothing was paid to similarly affected Waikato RDs however, including the Kennedys. NZ Post had earlier said that it would not be adjusting its payments model in future, in order to more accurately remunerate RD Contractor’s costs.”
Barbara Kuriger
Taranaki-King Country National MP, Barbara Kuriger, who supported Gallagher’s call for a ministerial inquiry, said the news was disappointing.
“You really have to put up a good fight,” she said. “People get worn out, run out of money, I see it a lot. It gets too hard and too expensive. I just hope they are OK.”
Kuriger was also disappointed to hear the request for a ministerial inquiry had passed from State Owned Enterprises minister Paul Goldsmith to Chris Bishop and onto Simeon Brown before it was dismissed in favour of a NZ Post board review.
Peter Nation
Last month Tamahere resident and Agbiz Consultants director Peter Nation complained mail thieves may be taking advantage of inconsistent delivery patterns in the RD3. Mail has been reported going missing since the Kennedys’ exclusive run was replaced by multiple vans which arrive at unpredictable times.
Nation, who shared photographs of mail theft in action with The News, said he had complained to NZ Post about the inconsistent delivery and the thefts and was told the contractor was only required to deliver daily and there was no set time or process.
Danny and Ian Kennedy were contesting New Zealand Post’s new delivery plan.
