Paul Graham to replace Christine Holgate as Australia Post CEO
Australia Post has sought to get ahead of the politics engulfing the ousting it by appointing Christine Holgate’s replacement a day before a Senate inquiry into her departure is set to begin.
Australia Post has sought to get ahead of the politics engulfing the ousting of its former chief executive Christine Holgate by appointing her replacement a day before a Senate inquiry into her departure is set to begin.
The postal service has appointed Woolworths’ supply chain boss Paul Graham as its next chief executive after a global search, which was estimated to have cost $500,000.
The timing of Mr Graham’s appointment, and its approval from the Morrison government, has attracted criticism from the Senate inquiry’s chair, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who accused Australia Post of seeking to “undermine” the role of the Senate.
“The search for a new CEO of Australia Post has taken more than five months, so one can only question why the appointment has been made the day prior to a senate inquiry hearing into the circumstances surrounding the employment of the last CEO,” Senator Hanson-Young said.
“While the matter of the termination of Ms Holgate’s employment is before a Senate inquiry, the appointment of a new CEO is inappropriate and seeks to undermine the Senate inquiry process.”
The inquiry will probe Ms Holgate’s claims that Mr Di Bartolomeo bullied and humiliated her, and stood her down unlawfully after attracting criticism from Scott Morrison for rewarding Cartier watches — worth a total of almost $20,000 — to four senior executives who secured a banking deal worth $66m a year.
Mr Bartolomeo has rejected these claims.
The ministers who oversee Australia Post, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, said the government “welcomes” Mr Graham’s appointment.
“We trust Mr Graham will provide strong direction and leadership as Australia Post continues to deliver record numbers of parcels, even with border closures and ongoing logistical challenges,” the two ministers said in a joint statement.
“We would also like to thank Ms Christine Holgate once again for her service to Australia Post.”
Mr Graham will be paid fixed total remuneration of $1.46m, with the potential to double that amount in bonuses, in accordance with the parameters set by the Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal. This compares with Ms Holgate’s total remuneration last year of $1.61m, which included $38,273 in long-service leave and $138,565 in “other long-term benefits”.
Mr Di Bartolomeo said Australia Post undertook a “thorough global search” before appointing Mr Graham to “lead the business through the next phase of its transformation program”.
Executive recruitment firm Egon Zehnder completed the search on Australia Post’s behalf — a process estimated to have cost about $500,000, according to recruitment insiders.
“On behalf of the board I am so pleased to announce Paul as the next CEO of Australia Post – an outstanding candidate with strong logistics, digital and retail experience both here and overseas, including as a senior executive at Deutsche Post DHL,” Mr Di Bartolomeo said.
“Paul has a demonstrated track-record of delivering results in large, complex organisations and is a proven leader managing large teams.
“The board was impressed by Paul’s 40 years’ of deep industry experience working in supply chain in Australia, Europe and Asia. We are also confident Paul’s community and customer philosophy is also a perfect fit for Australia Post.”
Mr Graham — whose latest role has been Woolworths chief supply chain officer — said he was proud to be appointed as chief executive of such an “iconic Australian brand”. He will start in September.
He has previously been DHL’s global chief operating officer and Europe chief executive, overseeing 170,000 people in 65 countries and $32bn in revenue.
“Australia Post has proven itself to be one of the most resilient and successful postal businesses anywhere in the world. I feel fortunate to be joining at a time when we can truly capitalise on the extraordinary growth in e-commerce experienced in the past year and continue developing our retail and digital offerings while keeping letter deliveries strong,” Mr Graham said.
“I am most looking forward to meeting the team across the country – the posties, Post Office workers, mail processors and delivery drivers that kept our country operating during COVID-19. I am also looking forward to getting out into regional Australia where Australia Post has an enormous presence, as well as meeting with the thousands of Post Office licensee partners who play a critical role every day serving the country.
“I have been so privileged to run Woolworths’s supply chain for the past five years and it has shown me how important it is to keep our customers at the centre of everything we do – without our customers we don’t have a business.”
Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci said Mr Graham had “played a pivotal leadership role as we’ve set about building Australia’s next generation supply chain”.
“Most importantly, Paul has supported the transformation of our supply chain culture to one that puts customers and team first in everything we do,” Mr Banducci said.
“His advocacy has been instrumental in improving mental health support for our team, as well as the wider supply chain industry in his role as chairman of the Healthy Heads in Sheds and Trucks Foundation. Paul has also been a vocal supporter of diversity and inclusion in his role as an ally with the Woolworths PROUD initiative.
“We look forward to working in partnership with Paul in his new role on the many touch points our Group has with Australia Post.”
Mr Graham was appointed over internal Australia Post candidates, including chief financial officer Rodney Boys, executive general manager community and customer Nicole Sheffield, and executive general manager business and government Gary Starr.
Several external candidates were also in the mix, but withdrew from the process, including former Virgin chief executive Paul Scurrah, and Linfox Armaguard chief executive and former Australia Post international boss Annette Carey. Former SBS managing director Michael Ebeid was also understood to be in the running.
Australia Post confirmed that Mr Boys will continue to lead the business through the CEO transition period until Mr Graham commences in September.
Ms Holgate and Mr Di Bartolomeo will give evidence at the Senate inquiry on Tuesday, as will Australia Post human resources boss Susan Davies, who was added to the witness list on Monday afternoon and will appear in a “private capacity”.
Ms Holgate says Ms Davies witnessed her exchanges with the chairman and can support her claim that she was stood down unlawfully.
Another Australia Post employee, general manager of customer services, Taeressa Fawthrop, will also appear in a “private capacity”.
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