One of the confusing aspects of modern Australian stamps is the large number of printing firms that have been involved in stamp production. The range of stamp printers has embraced Asher & Co., Leigh Mardon Pty Ltd, Cambec Press, CPE Australia, Avon Graphics, Permara Labels, Prinset Cambec, McPherson’s Printing Group and SNP Cambec. Since 1977, the names of 22 firms have been associated with Australian stamp production. Some of these are firms that aquired new names followine changes in ownership, but even allowing for this, there is still a large number of different firms that have produced Australian stamps at various times.

For decades, Australian stamps were printed routinely by the Note Printing Branch, the government-owned printing establishment that was primarily responsible for banknote production. There had been only two exceptions to this arrangement – the printing of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the 1962 Commonwealth Games stamps by overseas firms. Both these exceptions required the personal approval of the Federal Treasurer, since Treasury regulations obliged the Postmaster-General’s Department to use the services of the Note Printing Branch to print stamps.

Following Australia Post’s establishment as a statutory authority in 1975, this restriction was removed. Australia Post was free to have stamps printed by anyone, but the existing arrangement with the Note Printing Branch continued for the time being. It is interesting to note that there was no contract between Australia Post and the Note Printing Branch and there was no prior quoting for stamp printing. Once a job was completed, the Note printing Branch calculated the time involved and billed accordingly.

The decision to cease stamp printing at the Note Printing Branch was made in conjunction with the relocation of this body from cramped premises in inner-city Fitzroy to a spacious, new plant at Craigieburn, on Melbourne’s rural fringes. The Note Printing Branch regarded banknote production as its primary function and stamp printing as a secondary activity. Probably the growing volume of stamp production and the use of different machinery for stamu and banknote printing were factors in the decision by Note Printing Branch to end its historic role as a stamp printer.

Australia Post would have to arrange for stamps to be printed by someone else and this would need to be phased in during the lead-up to the Note Printing Branch’s relocation to Craigieburn. For practical purposes, the use of an overseas stamp printer was not considered by Australia Post. The choice would have to be an Australian printer. Initially, the Australian Government Printer with premises in Canberra and Sydney was chosen to print the stamps for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee (February 1977). A small, initial supply of the stamps was printed before an equipment failure caused the Government Printer to abandon the job. The printing of the stamps was completed by Norman J. Fields & Co., a small, specialty printer in Melbourne who was prepared to work during the new year, when the rest of the industry generally shut down. It was an historic moment, though, as it was the first occasion that stamps had been printed in Australia by a private contractor since about 1860.

Australia Post now turned its attention to the private sector for a stamp printer. The choice was Asher & Co. Pty. Ltd., a Melbourne firm who were experienced security printers producing cheques, tickets and Australia Post money orders. The skills required to print stamps are probably shared by many printing firms and, apart from perforating equipment, the machinery used is no different to that used for ordinary, colour printing. The chief difficulty for any potential stamp printer is the capital investment needed for the required level of security involved in the various production steps. Asher & Co. already had security measures in place and this required only certain changes to meet the needs of stamp production.

The first stamp printed by Asher & Co. was the $10 “Coming South” definitive (October 1977). The small production run of this single stamp presented no difficulties. However, the next issue was the four stamps and miniature sheet of the “Aviators” (April 1978). Last moment changes to the stamp designs and pressure to finish the work quickly caused a number of problems, as is indicated by the range of errors in these stamps. By 1980, Asher & Co. were printing almost all of Australia Post’s new stamp issues. The Note Printing Branch maintained the production of existing definitive stamps, including the base rate definitive, which comprised half of all stamps printed. In April 1981, Asher & Co. were taken over by Leigh Mardon Pty. Ltd. and, from this point onwards, the firm operated under the latter name.

It was Australia Post’s intention that most of the stamp production work would go to Leigh Mardon when the Note Printing Branch ceased its involvement, but a back-up stamp printer would handle the remainder of the work. The second stamp printer could maintain stamp supplies if the major production was interrupted by say, a strike or a fire. Also, two stamp printers would encourage competitive price tendering.

Among several contenders considered for the new position was the Victorian Government Printer, who was awarded the printing of the 22c stamp in the “Australian Aircraft” series (October 1980). However, the printing of this stamp involved difficulties and the Victorian Government Printer opted out of further consideration. The final choice of a second stamp printer was Cambec Press Pty. Ltd. and its plant at Scoresby, an eastern Melbourne suburb, was fitted out for stamp production. Cambec Press printed stamp packs, first day covers and other products for Australia Post, but had no experience printing stamps. The first stamp produced by the firm was the International Year of Disabled Persons commemorative (September 1981). Cambec Press went on to print stamps on a regular basis, but the intention that it played a subordinate role to Leigh Mardon was soon abandoned and the two printers shared the available stamp production work on a “50-50” basis.

In the meantime, the Note Printing Branch ended its involvement in stamp production. The last stamp actually printed at the Note Printing Branch was the 50th anniversary of APEX commemorative (April 1981), but the last stamp to be issued was the 24c Thylacine definitive (July 1981), which was produced as an undenominated stamp by the Note Printing Branch and the value added by Leigh Mardon.

Throughout the 1980s, Leigh Mardon and Cambec Press handled all stamp production for Australia Post, with only a few exceptions. Following the introduction of stamp booklets for vending machine sale, the first booklet to be provided, “Australian Eucalypts” (November 1982) was produced by the Dutch stamp printer, Joh Enschede en Zonen, as neither Australian stamp printer had the means to machine collate the booklets. The booklets, “Alpine Wildflowers” (August 1986) and “Australian Crafts” (September 1988) were both produced by Mercury Walch Pty. Ltd, of Hobart, who hand-collated the booklets and incorporated the unusual feature of rouletting to separate the stamps in the booklet panes. Mercury Walch became the chief printer of postal stationery following the Note Printing Branch’s withdrawal from production and still occupies this niche 20 years later.

In January 1989, CPE Australia Pty Ltd (CPE means Cheque Printers Encoders) acquired ownership of Cambec Press and it commenced printing stamps under the CPE name. The new firm had ownership links to Leigh Mardon and, three months later, the CPE plant at Scoresby began to be operated as an adjunct to Leigh Mardon’s plant at Moorabbin. Also, from this point onwards, stamps printed at Scoresby were credited to Leigh Mardon as printer. At the end of 1991, the Scoresby plant was dosed down and all stamp production was carried out at Moorabbin.

Leigh Mardon’s monopoly over stamp production was not a welcome development to Australia Post. Prinset Cambec (based on the old Cambec Press) reemerged as a stamp printer. Their first stamp issue was the Sports definitives (January 1990), but for a certain period of time, Leigh Mardon continued to print the great majority of Australian stamps.

The introduction of self adhesive or “peel & stick” stamps in May 1990 caused a third stamp printer to enter the field – Permara Labels Pty. Ltd. The extraordinary growth in popularity of self adhesive stamps revolutionised stamp production. Prinset Cambec adapted its production techniques to help meet the escalating demand for self adhesive stamps, which Permara Labels alone could not produce enough stamps to meet. Initially, Leigh Mardon opted not to get involved in self adhesive stamp production (a costly mistake in the long run), but eventually, the firm embraced this production, although it only printed self adhesive issues for overseas countries and none for Australia Post.

Yet another Melbourne-based stamp printer emerged with the issue of “Vineyard Regions” (April 1992). This was Owen King Pty. Ltd., who after a few months chose to operate under the name of its parent company, McPherson’s Printing Group.

A feature of the production of the new stamp printers is that the firms’ work is confined to the printing of stamps and the finishing work (ie. the perforating, trimming and checking of sheets) is carried out by Sprintpak, a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Australia Post. Sprintpak began as a security packaging division of Mayne Nickless and it undertook the collation of stamp packs and the machine affixing and cancelling of first day covers. Early in 1987, Australia Post purchased Sprintpak from Mayne Nickless and operated it, not only to continue the above work, but also to supervise and assist the work of the stamp printers. Sprintpak acquired perforating equipment and assumed responsibility for the finishing work involved with stamps printed by the new firms. The die-cutting of self adhesive stamps and the collation into rolls and folders is also carried out by Sprintpak. Leigh Mardon, however, continued to carry out all facets of stamp production under its roof.

During the 1990s there has been more experimentation with printing processes to make Australian stamps more appealing and this has involved other printing firms. These innovations have included intaglio printing, metallic foil stamping and optical reflective devices in stamp designs.

The high-value “Gardens” definitives (April 1989) are the first, modem Australian stamps to be printed by a combination of two processes – photolithography for the main design and intaglio as a highlight. The intaglio printing involved a re-emergence of the Note Printing Branch as a stamp printer. The first, full intaglio stamps were “Aviation Feats” (October 1994) printed by Sweden Post, which operates its own printing establishment that uses intaglio to produce most Swedish stamps. The 50th anniversary of National Trusts (March 1995) was the first full intaglio issue by Note Printing Australia, the new name of the Note Printing Branch following its creation as a statutory body. Note Printing Australia has subsequently produced one or two intaglio stamp issues each year for Australia Post.

The application of metallic foil stamping and optical reflective devices has been the specialty of Avon Graphics Pty. Ltd. of Melbourne. This firm’s first stamp was the $20 Gardens definitive (August 1990) on which gold foil stamping was applied to print the denomination and “Australia”. The “Opals” stamps (April 1995) were the first to feature an optical reflective devise, which is printed on an ultra thin plastic film embossed onto the stamps.

Among the more recent changes to Australian stamp production are the end to Leigh Mardon’s role as a stamp printer, a change in Printset Cambec’s ownership and the use of overseas printers for some “Joint issues” with other countries.

In mid-1995, Leigh Mardon lost its stamp printing contract with Australia Post and the firm immediately closed down its stamp printing operation. Leigh Mardon had experienced difficulties with some of its overseas stamp printing commitments and the loss of Australia Post’s work was a final blow. From its monopoly over Australian stamp production five years earlier, Leigh Mardon’s demise as a stamp printer is a surprising story of commercial failure. Canberra Press Pty Ltd., a well-established Melbourne printing firm, subsequently printed two stamp issues, Cocos (Keeling) Islands’ Quarantine Station (June 1996) and Australia’s “Centenary of the National Council of Women” (August 1996), but there have been no further stamps produced by the new printer to date.

In mid-1995, Prinset Cambec was bought outright by Singapore National Printers Pty Ltd and the name of the firm changed to SNP Cambec. This firm is now the chief producer of Australian stamps, handling most of the self adhesive stamp printing and much of the sheet format stamps. McPherson’s Printing Group confines its production to sheet format stamps.

The release of joint stamp issues between Australia Post and overseas postal administrations has involved foreign printers in the production of Australian stamps. The joint Australia-China miniature sheet of Koala and Panda (September 1995) was printed for Australia Post by the Stamp Printing Works in Beijing. The Australia-Germany joint stamp for the death centenary of Ferdinand von Mueller (October 1996) was printed by the State Printing Works in Berlin.

Twenty years after Australian stamps were produced routinely by the Note Printing Branch, an interesting situation has evolved: most stamps are produced by two printing firms, one of which is owned by Singapore’s government, and Australia Post’s subsidiary company, Sprintpak undertakes the final production steps.

Published by kind permission of the author.