Australia Post execs’ Cartier watches cost $19,950 as spotlight moves to CEO’s credit card

Cartier watches gifted to four senior Australia Post employees cost $19,950, as the commonwealth investigates CEO’s ‘excessive’ credit card use.

Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate during Senate estimates in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The Cartier watches gifted to four senior Australia Post employees cost $19,950 – nearly double the $12,000 price tag suggested by stood aside chief executive Christine Holgate – as the commonwealth investigates her “excessive” credit card use.

While Ms Holgate told a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday the watches were bought in October 2018 for $3000 each, The Weekend Australian understands the Morrison government was informed they were between $3800 and $7500 per item.

Australia Post set the record straight on Friday night, with chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo saying the board had found it was not asked to approve or note the purchase of the Cartier watches and there was no subsequent reference to the gifts.

The purchase occurred in November 2018, not October.

“(I) wish, as a matter of urgency, to clarify that the purchase was of four items costing $7000, $4750, $4400 and $3800 totalling $19,950 (including GST), and was made in November 2018,” Mr Di Bartolomeo said.

“Australia Post will continue to participate transparently in budget estimates 2020-21 processes, including to review the proof Hansard transcript of evidence when it is made available and to respond to questions on notice, and will – as reflected in my public statement yesterday – also fully co-operate with the recently announced investigation to be conducted by shareholder departments.”

The revised cost comes as The Weekend Australian can also reveal Australia Post senior executives allegedly used corporate boxes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and ANZ Stadium in Sydney for their family and friends.

Top executives allegedly earmarked the boxes for certain games and one employee even allegedly used the ANZ Stadium box to take their family to see an Adele concert.

Former staff said the organisation’s letters team were paid bonuses despite Australia Post having a legislated monopoly over the product, meaning no other organisation can sell letters.

Another ex-staff member said that in one year the letters team allegedly asked customers to pay the first few months of the upcoming financial year in advance so they would meet their targets to receive their bonus payments.

The largesse at Australia Post prompted Scott Morrison on Friday to flag a potential wide-ranging investigation into government-appointed staff and their remuneration, tax and bonus arrangements, warning board and executive members there should be no repeat of the Cartier watch debacle.

“There wouldn’t be a board member of a government agency or a CEO of a government agency that didn’t get my message yesterday. I think they got it with a rocket. My advice to them is to get it,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Morrison instigated a four-week investigation into Ms Holgate’s credit card use, which will be conducted by the departments of communications and finance, within an hour of the Cartier watch revelations airing at estimates.

Ms Holgate also claimed taxpayers’ money was not used to purchase the watches, infuriating the Prime Minister and other government MPs.

The watches were gifted to the senior employees, Gary Starr, Deanne Keetelaar, Anna Bennett and Greg Sutherland for finalising the $66m “Bank@Post” deal, which allows Australians to access banking services at Australia Post.

Australia Post confirmed Ms Holgate would continue receiving her salary – worth $27,000 per week – while she is stood aside during the investigation.

If she does not resign before it is completed, it will be up to the board and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher to decide Ms Holgate’s future.

The Morrison government has sought legal advice as to whether Ms Holgate has to be paid while she is stood down. It is understood the government cannot remove a person’s pay unless they are facing disciplinary action, otherwise Ms Holgate is able to sue.

The commonwealth departments will look at irregular use of taxpayer money by Ms Holgate, board members and Australia Post’s executive, as well as some “excessive” charges on the CEO’s credit card.

Broader conduct of the board and executive will also be examined, with government sources insisting board members, some of whom are former Coalition MPs and party figures, would be in the spotlight.

Food blogger Gastrology detailed life inside Australia Post‘s MCG corporate box, which has wallpaper featuring large postage stamps, in a post dated April 2016.

“Australia Post’s corporate box is located on the Ponsford stand, located perfectly for a great bird’s eye view of an AFL game. The corporate box is quite spacious, with service excellent as we were attended to for drinks, finger food and the buffet dinner,” Gastrology wrote.

While Australia Post is a commercial entity and is not taxpayer-funded, it is owned by the federal government and returns any surplus cash to the commonwealth via a dividend.

Every dollar spent on bonuses or non-essential spending, such as Cartier watches and indoor plants when nobody is in the office, is a dollar that isn‘t returned to the government’s coffers.

Australia Post did not respond to specific questions from The Weekend Australian about expenditure by board and executive members or the personal use of corporate boxes.

Anthony Albanese said it was “extraordinary” the Australia Post board had been “let off scot-free” by Mr Morrison.

The Greens have proposed a salary cap for Australia Post executives, saying the Cartier watches scandal was a “symptom of a long ideological campaign from the Liberal government to corporatise the culture and operations” of the government-owned business.

High expenditure can be traced back to 2012 when former chief executive Ahmed Fahour was criticised for spending $2.5m on taking 78 people – including former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou (who paid for his own accommodation) – to the London Olympics. Mr Fahour told a Senate committee that all guests were either important, or potentially important, Australia Post customers.