Ousted Australia Post executive director Christine Holgate called for a « more capable board » at the Post, accusing chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo of « lying » to the Senate and « malicious intent to defame it » after Prime Minister Scott Morrison had her Step aside.
In her first public comment after leaving the Australia Post about the « reward » totaling $ 20,000 worth of four Cartier watch executives, Ms. Holgate said she was so concerned about Mr. Di Bartolomeo’s behavior she had to seek medical treatment.
She « broke her silence » in a 151-page Senate inquiry filing a damned picture of the board of directors of Australia Post under Mr Di Bartolomeo and the Morrison administration.
Ms. Holgate said Mr. Di Bartolomeo « humbled and forsaken » her after Mr. Morrison demanded that she either step aside or go over the donation of the watches in recognition of a deal worth $ 66 million a year with three of the big ones, banks were given to allow post offices to provide basic banking services.
The Prime Minister’s thunderous criticism came despite Ms. Holgate saying the gifts were in line with Australia Post’s guidelines, the Treasury Department had no objection and an independent investigation found no « examples of dishonesty ».
« To date, I have received no explanation as to why I was forced to resign, other than that the (communications) minister and the prime minister insisted and that this has no legal position in itself, » said Ms. Holgate.
« The Australia Post, like all of our nationally significant organizations, should not be a political toy in which board positions are used as a reward for political service.
« From this experience we need to build a stronger, more capable board and ensure that this important asset is protected and cherished for many years to come for the benefit of all Australians. For these reasons, I have agreed to break my silence. »
An Australia Post spokesman declined to comment on Ms. Holgate’s claims against Mr Di Bartolomeo. Instead, the spokesman referred to the lengthy 156-page filing by Australia Post, which reiterates much of its previous public comments on Ms. Holgate’s departure.
Although Ms. Holgate was clearly implicated in a political attack, she said Mr. Di Bartolomeo refused to defend her, causing her to be « extremely anxious ».
« The watches were celebrated openly, as part of our gift and compensation policy, and at no point did anyone, including directors, auditors, or Treasury officials who regularly checked our accounts have raised concerns about this choice of gift. »
« But somehow I was forced to lose my job. For this I blame one person – the chairman, Lucio Di Bartolomeo. He knew all the facts but decided to shirk his responsibility to defend myself and the Australia Post. » from those who didn’t know all the facts. Then he lied about his actions and other important issues.
« In short, I was treated like a criminal by my own chairman, but I had not committed a crime. »
Ms. Holgate said she had never agreed to resign despite Mr Di Bartolomeo’s remarks to the Senate. She asked for two-week annual leave so that an investigation into Australia Post’s expenses could be carried out « without delay ».
Ms. Holgate later offered to resign but said she had never signed a discharge note, which meant the $ 7 billion government organization could prevent her from working elsewhere for a year and not paying her a dime.
The act would also have gagged Ms. Holgate, despite the fact that Australia Post management was allowed to make public comments about her.
« The chairman of Australia Post wrote to me asking me to sign an amendment to my contract.
If I had signed this letter, it might have prevented me from working for 12 months, I would not have received any pay, and a clause was added that would prevent me from making any future claims against the organization. »
Although Ms. Holgate has not yet been officially fired from Australia Post, Mr. Di Bartolomeo has overseen the appointment of recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to recruit Ms. Holgate’s successor. The search is expected to cost $ 500,000 and is at an advanced stage.
In addition to rushing to replace her, Ms. Holgate said Australia Post refused to correct « false reports » on her departure and lost correspondence between her and the board despite knowing they were seriously afraid would have.
« The extent of these ‘leaks’ shows what appears to be a deliberate and malicious intent to defame both my character and my professional and personal reputation while diverting attention from a chairman who misled a Senate request and me has illegally discontinued.
« When I asked for help, my requests were constantly being asked to review credit card spending records, under the guise of having to be made public, presumably to do more harm to me. Your actions have been and are an exercise in seeking justification . » in hindsight for failing to treat me fairly.
« The board was very aware of the significant impact these events had on my health and wellbeing at the time. I was in a great deal of anxiety. I was on sick leave and on medication they all knew about. »
Ms. Holgate said Rodney Boys, the acting executive director of Australia Post, « cut off » support for her despite knowing she was seriously afraid after her fall, while the postal service released skewed credit card spending during her time at the organization – which Appeared to have billed Australia Post for certain expenses when she paid for them herself.
When they asked Australia Post about this, « the answer was, » I checked with Rodney (Boys) and he confirmed that these expenses do not include your credits as they were paid after the deadline. »
The credit card spendings published by Australia Post under Freedom of Information were in Ms. Holgate’s name and in the CEO’s office, totaling $ 20,000 and $ 300,000, respectively. However, Ms. Holgate said the reported numbers were misleading. The law firm conducted an investigation into Australia Post’s spending and found « no examples of dishonesty ».
« That as CEO I had a $ 300,000 per year credit card. That is absolutely wrong. The cost of the CEO’s office is supposed to support the chairman, board of directors, CEO, and major corporate initiatives.
« My personal credit card with the organization averaged $ 20,000 a year. I personally paid for my own accommodation when I was working in Melbourne. I never applied for additional home away allowances as permitted by the Remuneration Tribunal was. »
would share a note for me to our staff. I received a reply that said, « This is excellent news. I asked Rodney for his OK and I would love to distribute it this afternoon. »
« (But) the note wasn’t sent at this point. It wasn’t endorsed by the acting CEO.
« I learned that in their next written communication to our frontline staff, many of whom do not have corporate email, the organization ignored my message. They forwarded me to our staff, but they were very aware that thousands of employees tried to contact me. »
In a statement Ms. Holgate released when she offered to resign, she said, « I deeply regret a decision made two years ago » to purchase the Chairman-sponsored Cartier watches to celebrate the outstanding work of four Acknowledging staff this caused lots of debates and distractions and I appreciate the look of the gifts that fail the « pub test » for many.
Giving away the watches was also added to the Australia Post cash bonus payments. One of the recipients, Director General for Business and Government, Gary Starr, also received a cash bonus of more than $ 400,000, bringing his total salary to more than $ 1.2 million for the fiscal year the watches were gifted. Dollar increased. This emerges from the group’s annual report.
But Ms. Holgate said former chairman John Stanhope approved the purchase, with the cost approved by then CFO Jannelle Hopkins with the recognized fringe tax. »
« This type of reward is an extremely appropriate and inexpensive form of employee incentive that is widely used by companies large and small internationally. »
Ms. Holgate also included a table in her filing highlighting the gap in her total salary of $ 1.61 million and $ 2.56 million over the past two fiscal years when compared to her predecessor Ahmed Fahour, who in his took home $ 10.84 million from Australia Post last year.
She said her salary is also lower than that of Stephen Rue, the executive director of NBN Co, who received $ 3.15 million last year, even though NBN’s sales are almost half that of Australia Post.
« Given the significant complexity of leadership in an organization the size of Australia Post and my personal performance against the goals set by the Board of Directors, the large variance in my own compensation compared to my male colleagues who run smaller companies is a significant problem. »
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