Standing by good friend Christine Holgate was a question of values, Shaun Bonett says

Property billionaire Shaun Bonett says his commitment to core values made it an easy decision to defend Australia Post's Christine Holgate, as he reflects on what true success is.

Shaun Bonett at the Port Adelaide Plaza shopping Centre which his company has recently redeveloped.

Publicly defending good friend Christine Holgate in her hour of need was not a decision Shaun Bonett took lightly, but it was one which ultimately he had to take, if he was to live a life true to his values.

Mr Bonett, who started from relatively humble beginnings in Adelaide before growing his property development firm Precision Group into a billion dollar-plus enterprise, was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of South Australia.

During his acceptance address, Mr Bonett took the opportunity to implore the university’s students to seize the challenge of becoming leaders in their community, but reminded them that living a values-based life was vital to achieving real success.

Mr Bonett said his “elixir of life”, was “the development of truly authentic relationships and limitless compassion’’, with both giving him personally the strength to endure the bad times “and provide me with a sense of tranquil calm whenever life slows down’’.

However he is concerned that there is a risk that we are prioritising superficiality and self-aggrandisement over deep connection, with much of the blame to be laid at the feet of social media.

University of South Australia chancellor Pauline Carr, Shaun Bonett and vice chancellor and president David Lloyd. Picture: falconvisuals.com.au

Speaking to News Corp Australia subsequent to making his speech, Mr Bonett expanded on the comments he made about why he felt it was so important to stand beside Ms Holgate, who he said was unfairly bullied by the government over the Cartier watch saga.

A Senate Inquiry eventually vindicated Ms Holgate over the matter, and called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to apologise to Ms Holgate, who was pressured to step down from her role at Australia Post after it became public that senior executives had been gifted Cartier watches after finalising a major deal.

Mr Bonett, who has known Ms Holgate for more than 15 years, was a key backer of the “Wear White 2 Unite” campaign which defended Ms Holgate, and denounced her treatment as bullying.

Mr Bonett said that at the time, he was advised by some people that he would be wise not to make himself a target.

“I had to almost pause and think to myself, what am I doing?

“I sort of said, my parents brought me to Australia because they believe in freedom and that it’s a democracy and that it stands for something, and I thought to myself, no, it was actually very important to defend a close friend who I thought was very unfairly treated.

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“In some respects it’s often those types of incidents that come up in our lives ... everyone has that decision to make, that opportunity to either keep quiet or to stand up.

“I think ultimately if we’re going to keep Australia great and continue to hold true the values of democracy and the types of values that our parents saw in Australia then it’s really important to do that.’’

Mr Bonett, along with Ms Holgate’s former boss at vitamin company Blackmores, Marcus Blackmore, publicly supported Ms Holgate while she testified before the Senate Inquiry.

Mr Bonett also told the UniSA students that their search for meaningful relationships was unlikely to be satisfied online - rather the opposite in fact.

“What is a meaningful relationship and how do we create more of them?’’ he asked.

“Well, they are not shallow or superficial and they are rarely ever found on the internet.

“It perplexes me. As a society, we have never been more connected to each other online.

“Each of us can have hundreds and thousands of friends on social media, but all the evidence shows that people have never felt more isolated, more depressed, and more pessimistic about the future. How can this be the case?’’

Mr Bonett said social media companies “play with us”, exploiting our weaknesses to keep us coming back.

“They know our psychology and keep us hooked into their networks seeking ‘likes’ and approval to get that hit of dopamine to make us feel good for an instant,’’ he said.

“In practice it’s an identical process to a gambler playing a poker machine in a casino. Both processes are just not healthy. As a result, we are building lives based on superficial foundations. It is not meaningful, and in fact it’s perniciously toxic.’’

Mr Bonett said he was worried, coming out of the pandemic, that there had been an erosion in human connection, and urged people to make an effort to work at it.

“I urge you to go back to basics, assess your relationships,’’ he said in his speech.

“Do better to build genuine friendships, authentically support communities, cherish your families, and close friends, be compassionate and most importantly actively listen, really listen to those around you.

“Everyone has a story and wants to tell it. By truly listening to other people’s needs and wants, we can find solutions to conflict and the challenges that confront us.’’