AUSTRALIA Post paid $32,000 for four business class fares and accommodation in Europe for a tour of a new mail machine that will help sort its new two-speed letter service. 
Two managers and two union officials were flown to the factory in Zurich, Switzerland, this month to see how the machine worked.
The machinery had already been purchased but the four-day trip was designed to plan for how to roll out the product in Australia.
The trip cost $32,000, including business class flights and accommodation. Australia Post delivered a $222 million loss in the latest financial year. And stamps for regular mail, which will now take up to six days to deliver, increased to $1 this month.
Priority letters, delivered in one to four business days, increased another 50c. Australia Post spokesman Mark Gardy said the trip was necessary to ensure the rollout would run smoothly.Two operational managers and two union representatives attended, he said.