Official postal services started in New Zealand after Captain William Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands and took up his role as Lieutenant-Governor.
Hobson appointed William Clayton Hayes as Clerk to the Bench of Magistrates and Postmaster and the first official post office was opened at Kororareka, now called Russell.
[2] The establishment of settlements across the North and South Islands meant the need for an internal postal service was becoming more and more important, but New Zealand's geography, ongoing wars between Māori and Europeans and intertribal fighting hindered communication.
It was increasingly unable to meet growing consumer demands and the postal side alone was losing over $20 million a year, with expectations that this would balloon in the future.
In 1985, Jonathan Hunt, Postmaster General, ordered a review of the organisational and management structure of the Post Office.
The subsequent Mason-Morris report of 1986 called for sweeping changes, separating the three core businesses to operate as independent State-owned corporations.