Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In June 2017, following a global search, Christine Holgate was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Australia Post, a massive $8 billion organisation with around 80,000 employees. She was described in a joint media release by the then Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communication as:

… a highly experienced chief executive, board director and business leader, with a strong record of managing and leading large and complex organisations … Ms Holgate also has extensive experience working closely with governments in regulated sectors including finance, telecommunications, media and healthcare. In 2015, she was named CEO of the Year by the CEO Institute.

In accepting the Australia Post role, Ms Holgate took a pay cut from her previous position. Her motivation was clearly not financial.

Three years later the company's annual report showed she was given a scorecard rating for 2020 of 95 per cent by the Australia Post board and was named in The Australian Financial Review's 'power list' as the seventh most powerful leader in business and the highest-ranking woman. She was regarded as an outstanding leader and was delivering financial results that made Australia Post the envy of its major competitors around the world. At no stage during her tenure were any performance issues raised with her. Australia Post 's financial results for FY20 showed record revenue of $7.5 billion, up seven per cent, and profits up 30 per cent to $53.6 million for the year, their highest ever revenue growth for a year without the acquisition of a major asset.

Australia Post's business transformation was accelerating under Christine Holgate's leadership at a time when similar organisations around the world were battling under the pressure of the COVID pandemic. She was indeed a stellar example of corporate leadership, admired and strongly supported by Australia Post employees and contractors. Her time as CEO included leading a small team of executives in negotiating a difficult but lucrative commitment under which several major banks would contribute around $220 million, over time, to fund banking services in the approximately 2,900 licensed post offices, or LPOs. This deal dramatically improved the financial performance of the company and guaranteed sustainability for those LPOs. It was essentially a financial life-saving deal for those offices, their operators and staff.

With the approval of the then chair of Australia Post, John Stanhope, and within Australia Post regulations, Ms Holgate rewarded four members of that executive team with a gift in the form of a watch. That was in 2018. On 22 October 2020, following Senate estimates on that day, the new Chair of Australia Post, Lucio Di Bartolomeo, called Ms Holgate and told her he had received a call from the Prime Minister. Ms Holgate was told the Prime Minister had requested she be stood down while an investigation into the gifting of the watches took place. Remember, Madam Acting Deputy President, this was two years after the event had occurred. It is my understanding that Ms Holgate told the chair she did not wish to stand down, given the effect it would have on the organisation as it entered its peak trading season, but would cooperate fully with an investigation. She also forwarded a photograph of a card signed and inscribed by her and the previous chair as evidence he had supported the rewards given to the executives. This photograph was forwarded to the Australia Post chair, to other Australia Post board members, to Minister Fletcher's chief of staff and to the deputy secretary in Communications early on the afternoon of 22 October. At around 2.38 pm that day, after the forwarding of the photograph, Minister Fletcher told question time the CEO would be investigated and would be stood down. A few minutes later, at approximately 2.42 pm, the Prime Minister told question time that Ms Holgate:

… has been instructed to stand aside and, if she does not wish to do that, she can go.

There it was for all to see. There was no explanation by the Prime Minister, no 'innocent until proven guilty', no sense of justice or fair play, no respect for one of the country's most senior and successful business leaders, no support, just complete abandonment. It was a simple: 'Here comes the bus and you're being thrown under it.'

At no point during question time did either Minister Fletcher or the Prime Minister acknowledge that the gifting had occurred two years earlier. They didn't mention it had been approved by the previous chair. They didn't mention that the gifts were in recognition of securing the largest ever investment into community post offices. They didn't mention that they were made in accordance with Australia Post policy. They didn't tell the House the CEO had a strong working relationship with the Prime Minister, whom she'd met with monthly and who had recently praised her leadership through COVID. They just threw her under the bus, publicly and savagely. What conversations had gone on behind the scenes between the Prime Minister, other ministers, staff and the Australia Post chair? Why was the Prime Minister unilaterally and publicly abandoning Ms Holgate and trashing her credibility and reputation?

Later that evening, the Australia Post chair issued a media statement stating that the CEO would 'stand aside' while the investigation took place. It is my understanding the CEO was not consulted on the words of this statement or its contents. Nor indeed was she ever informed the statement had been made. I understand Australia Post policy is that, for an individual to be stood down, the individual has to pose a serious threat or health risk to the organisation or to an individual in that organisation. I'm also advised that, for there to be a legal basis to stand down an individual, the individual either has to pose a serious threat or agree in writing.

None of those criteria applied to Ms Holgate. She did not present a serious threat. She had not agreed in writing to step down—other than a media statement that was released without her knowledge by the chair of Australia Post—and she had not agreed verbally. And yet the Australia Post chair stated at Senate estimates on 9 November, in response to several questions from Senator Green, that Ms Holgate had agreed to stand down. No evidence has ever been provided to substantiate this, even though Ms Holgate's lawyers have made multiple requests and confirm they have considerable evidence and witnesses that she did not agree.

The Hansard shows that, when asked by Senator Green for the legal basis on which Ms Holgate was stood aside, the chair replied, 'She elected to stand aside.' Mr Di Bartolomeo's answers to Senator Green's questions also included the statement:

We had discussions with Christine, and ultimately she agreed she would stand aside while the investigation took place.

Moving on to 23 December, following the release of the independent report on the removal of Ms Holgate, Robert Gottliebsen wrote in The Australian'sBusiness Review:

Not surprisingly, the report was immediately ordered to be kept secret, because not only did it completely exonerate Christine Holgate but showed that the remarks of the Prime Minister to the parliament were simply wrong.

And in that context it indirectly damned the two ministers responsible for Australia Post … Neither alerted the Prime Minister that he was about to make a horrible mistake.

Also deeply wounded by the report is the chairman of Australia Post, Lucio Di Bartolomeo, and his Liberal Party-controlled Australia Post board.

The independent report prepared by lawyers Maddocks revealed that under the Australia Post regulations the chief executive was allowed to make executive rewards of up to $150,000 for good performance without board approval.

…   …   …

She awarded the four executives a total of $20,000—$130,000 below the maximum—in the form of four Cartier watches that cost around $5000 each.

The executives had pulled off a banking deal that added $70m to $100m annually to the bottom line of Australia Post and secured the future of 3000 small business post offices branches around the country. The post offices were furious that she was ordered to stand down. The report says the former chairman approved the purchase of the watches and the board was aware a reward for outstanding performance was to be made.

The report says the former chairman approved the purchase of the watches and the board was aware that a reward for outstanding performance was to be made.

The report praised the work of Christine Holgate as CEO and was adamant that she did nothing wrong in purchasing the watches.

Gottliebsen's article describes the Prime Minister's remarks to parliament as something that 'will personally haunt our Prime Minister for a long time'. This is all over $20,000 worth of watches that Ms Holgate was fully authorised to present, in keeping with normal commercial practice, and that rewarded one of the most financially advantageous deals in the history of Australia. The actions of the Prime Minister, his relevant ministers and the chair and board of Australia Post, and their appalling treatment of Ms Holgate, deserve nothing less than a Senate inquiry.