Vitamin king Marcus Blackmore said Holgate testimony was ‘the real Christine I know’

The multi-millionaire vitamin king who helped mentor Christine Holgate to the top says the storm around her AusPost exit will do ‘long term’ damage to the government.

Mr Blackmore and Caroline Furlong, far left, watch former CEO of Australia Post Christine Holgate give evidence during a Public Hearing at Parliament House on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Multi-millionaire vitamin king Marcus Blackmore, the business mentor of the former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate, said the events surrounding the exit of the high-profile executive will deliver “long term” damage to the government.

Mr Blackmore and his wife Caroline Furlong, who were among the eight guests hand-picked by Ms Holgate to attend Tuesday’s explosive Senate inquiry in Canberra on Tuesday, said the spirited defence mounted by AusPost boss “was the real Christine I know”.

Ms Holgate this week accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of “humiliating” her and the Australia Post chairman of bullying, as she lashed out at the circumstances behind her departure as chief executive over the $20,000 gift to senior executives of four Cartier watches.

Marcus Blackmore and Christine Holgate during her time as CEO of the vitamins company.

“This is going to be long-term damaging for the government...it was the Ministers and the Prime Minister who were responsible for this,” said Mr Blackmore, who employed Ms Holgate as chief executive officer at his vitamin manufacturing company that carries his name for nine years before she left to join Australia Post.

“I felt they didn’t support her...(in fact) I think they did worse than that.”

“The government totally under-estimated the damage this would do to (them),” Mr Blackmore said.

‘She got a hell of a good price on those Cartier watches’ - Marcus Blackmore

“She ran just about the biggest government department and she wanted an apology from the Prime Minister.

Former CEO of Australia Post Christine Holgate during a Public Hearing at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Mr Blackmore said that Ms Holgate’s performance at the Senate Inquiry was a lesson in “integrity, honesty, openness, and empathy for people who worked for her.

“I thought she did an outstanding job. It’s about telling the truth. So often in business we don’t tell it how it is. She came across as a woman of integrity and empathy for her staff. This is missing in Australian (business) psyche.”

Also attending Tuesday’s Senate hearing was Ms Holgate’s husband, Mike Harding, and Mr Blackmore’s lawyer Bryan Belling, of Belling Legal, who works for Mr Blackmore and has been advising Ms Holgate.

Mr Blackmore said his barrister Max Kimber SC had also advised Ms Holgate since her exit from Australia Post last November.

At the same time Mr Blackmore said Ms Holgate negotiated a good deal when she bought $19,000 worth of Cartier watches.

“She got a hell of a good price on those Cartier watches,” Mr Blackmore said on Wednesday.

Asked if he would continue donating to the Liberal Party Mr Blackmore, a keen donor across both sides of politics, said he did not think Ms Holgate’s treatment was relative to the broader Liberal Party.

On Wednesday Communications Minister Paul Fletcher denied allegations made during Ms Holgate’s testimony that she was dismissed from her role by the federal government in the wake of the Cartier watches scandal. Mr Fletcher told reporters that she “resigned”.

Rich-lister Shaun Bonett was another of the supporters Ms Holgate handpicked to witness her testimony at the Senate inquiry. Mr Bonett has bankrolled the Wear White 2 Unite campaign, an initiative of licensed post offices aimed to stamp out workplace bullying.

Like Mr Blackmore, Mr Bonett said Australians witnessed the real Ms Holgate in action, and called “every female and decent man in Australia and beyond” to send a message to Scott Morrison that his “deplorable treatment” of Ms Holgate “will not be tolerated”.

He took aim at Mr Morrison refusing to apologise to Ms Holgate, despite the Prime Minister saying he regretted the distress it caused her.

“The reality is that most bullies don’t have a high level of self-awareness, and an appreciation of the enormous damage that their dysfunctional behaviour is causing in our society. They may even at rare times regret their actions, and only if absolutely required apologise and rectify their wrongs,” Mr Bonett told The Australian.

“We need more people like Christine Holgate in leadership positions in our community to do what is right, to stamp out bullying, harassment and corruption, and to help make Australia and the world a better place.”

Additional reporting: Jared Lynch