Christine Holgate Australia Post Senate inquiry: former CEO’s ‘sexist’ comments under fire
Director attacks Christine Holgate’s references to her political links; other claims by the ex-Australia Post CEO cast into doubt.
Welcome to live coverage of the Senate inquiry into the departure of former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate. Ms Holgate resigned in November amid controversy over the gifting of luxury Cartier watches to executives. Australia Post’s board members are due to appear at the inquiry today.
• Key update: Christine Holgate’s comments sexist, director says
Jared Lynch3.27pm:What’s happened at the inquiry so far
Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo and the rest of board have been accused of being “sloppy” over the standing down of Christine Holgate and her eventual departure from the postal service.
Australia Post has yet to provide any written evidence that Ms Holgate agreed to stand aside, which was a requirement of her contract, and it is this gap that was one of the factors that sparked a Senate inquiry into her departure.
On Tuesday the full board was called to appear before the second hearing of the inquiry, with all directors - expect Tony Nutt, who was ill - joining via video or teleconference.
All directors supported Mr Di Bartolomeo’s claim that Ms Holgate agreed to standaside after a series of phone conversations between the pair on October 22 last year, the day that Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded Holgate stand aside or “go” over the Cartier watch affair
Ms Holgate has disputed this, claiming she never spoke to Mr Di Bartolomeo that afternoon. And the only written evidence Australia Post has produced to suggest Ms Holgate willingly step aside was an email she sent the executive team at 6:27am the following morning, thanking chief financial officer Rodney Boys to step up as acting CEO.
“This is the crux of the matter, isn’t it?” the inquiry’s chair Senator Sarah Hanson told Australia Post’s board.
“This is the problem, you didn’t do your due diligence. You were sloppy. If you had sorted this out properly in the beginning, we wouldn’t bloody be here.”
Senator Hanson-Young also criticised Australia Post’s board for appearing via video link or teleconference, which led to technical difficulties at the start of the hearing.
“This is why we actually asked the Australia Post board to be here in person,” she said.
“What an absolute shambles”.
But Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson called for calm. “I understand that it was not the preference (to appear via video link). But it may well be nothing to the board and there could be issues at our end.”
The hearing also heard the company secretary, Nick MacDonald, did not attend the board meeting, which discussed Ms Holgate’s standing down, and minutes were only recorded after Mr Di Bartolomeo relayed the proceedings to Mr MacDonald.
Ms Holgate claims she was stood down unlawfully after it was revealed, under questioning from Labor, at Senate estimates last October that she rewarded senior executives four Cartier watches worth $20,000 for securing a banking deal worth $66m a year.
Ms Holgate said she asked for two weeks’ leave while the watch purchases were investigated, and although she later offered her resignation in a letter to the board, it was never formally accepted nor did she sign a deed of release.
Senator Pauline Hanson highlighted several sections of Ms Holgate’s contract, which she said supported the former chief executive’s claim she was stood down unlawfully.
“It says no oral explanation or informatuon provided by any part to another affects the meaning or interpretation of this document. So basically accepting her letter of resignation was in contradiction of her contract. You should have never terminated it,” Senator Hanson said.
But Mr Di Bartolomeo said the board was accommodating Ms Holgate’s wishes.
“What she wanted was a release from her six months’ notice of resignation. That’s what she was after. And we could agree to her request, which we did,” he said.
“In my mind, she did agree to stand aside and that, plus a number of statements that were shared with Ms Holgate that evening and the following day concerning the actions that were taken were consistent with her standing aside.
“It was only some four or five days later that she raised the question as to whether she had agreed to stand aside.”
But Senator Hanson was not satisfied with the response, and accused him of bowing to Communications Minister Paul Fletcher who asked him to stand Ms Holgate down.
“Your evidence doesn’t stack up as far as her agreeing to stand down because you never had that personal conversation with her that afternoon.
“You got your orders from the department of the shareholder ministers or possibly the Prime Minister himself. That’s why you’re on this rampage to get rid of her and that’s why you wouldn’t accept her two weeks’ leave.”
Mr Di Bartolomeo replied: “those statements are not correct”.
Adeshola Ore2.30pm:Australia Post privatisation claim a ‘beat-up’
Liberal senator David Fawcett asked the board members if there had been any discussion about privatising Australia Post.
Ms Holgate previously told the inquiry she was forced out of the postal service because she opposed recommendations in a Boston Consulting Group review that she sell off the parcels business.
But Chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo said the subject of privatisation had “never arisen” with shareholders or discussions with board members.
“It has not been the subject of any discussion I’ve been involved in,” he said.
Director Michael Ronaldson said suggestions that board was seeking to privatise the postal service were a “complete and utter beat up”.
“The board has never discussed privatisation,” he said.
Adeshola Ore1.50pm:CEO’s departure ‘not a board call’
Australia Post director Michael Ronaldson has told the inquiry that the departure of former boss Christine Holgate was “not of the board’s making.”
The former Abbott government minister and Liberal senator said it was not the responsibility of the Australia Post board to apologise to Ms Holgate about the treatment she received.
“The moment Senator Kitching asked her question in estimates and the Senator knows full well why that was done and on whose behalf that was done and the fact it was a bit of payback, from that very moment this thing got completely out control,” he said.
Mr Ronaldson also accused the Senate committee of attempting to “take scalps”.
Director Jan West agreed that an apology was not owed, but said it was important to “reflect” on what had led the board to where it was now.
Director Deidre Willmott said it was Ms Holgate who had decided her position was “untenable” – not the board.
Adeshola Ore1.20pm:Chairman faces grilling
Labor Senator Kim Carr has grilled Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo about the board meeting held last October on the same day that the purchasing of the Cartier watches were revealed in Senate estimates.
During question time on October 22 Mr Morrison told parliament that if Ms Holgate did not want to stand aside during the investigation into the expenditure, she could “go.”
Mr Di Bartolomeo told the inquiry he called the private board meeting and noted the board member “collectively” decided that it would be a director-only meeting.
Australia Post General Counsel & Corporate Secretary Nick Macdonald told the inquiry that the board did not have independent legal advice before it called the private meeting.
Jared Lynch1.10pm:Holgate’s claims ‘sexist’
Australia Post director Deidre Willmott has attacked Christine Holgate’s comments about her links to the Liberal Party, branding them as “sexist”.
Ms Holgate said at a Senate inquiry into her ousting from Australia Post that the postal service’s board was not independent, with all directors having ties to the Coalition government.
Ms Holgate said of Ms Willmott: “I think we all know of her strong ties to the Liberal Party. She worked for the Liberal Premier in Western Australia. Minister Cormann used to work for Ms Deidre Willmott”.
But Ms Willmott slammed that comment when she appeared with the rest of Australia Post’s board before the inquiry on Tuesday.
“I would like to respond to recent descriptions of my professional background as reported in the media. I’ve had a long and varied career in business and in government,” Ms Willmott said.
“I have had a serious career and have worked on important issues with all sides of politics, diminishing me as a political staffer is frankly sexist.”
Jared Lynch12.50pm:Hearing a shambles, Hanson-Young says
The appearance of all Australia Post board members before a Senate inquiry into Christine Holgate’s ousting postal service has been branded an “absolute shambles”.
Before any director could utter a word, the inquiry was informed that former Liberal federal and state director Tony Nutt could not attend the hearing, falling ill at the last minute. He will instead appear at another hearing on May 3.
But the problems did not end there, with the inquiry’s chair Senator Sarah Hanson-Young then criticising the Australia Post board members appearing via video link instead of in person.
None of the Senators could hear any of the board members, prompting Senator Hanson-Young to exclaim: “this is why we actually asked the Australia Post board to be here in person”.
“What an absolute shambles”.
But Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson called for calm. “I understand that it was not the preference (to appear via video link). But it may well be nothing to the board and there could be issues at our end.”
The inquiry has taken a brief adjournment to sort out its technical difficulties with the Australia Post board.
The board had already got off to a rocky start with the inquiry after it appointed Woolworths executive Paul Graham as Ms Holgate’s replacement – a day before the inquiry was set to begin.
“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 at the time of Mr Graham’s appointment.
“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.”
Adeshola Ore12.20pm:Post Office Group calls for apology from PM
Licensed Post Office Group executive director Angela Cramp has repeated the postal union’s calls for the Australia Post board to be overhauled.
Ms Cramp, who appeared alongside Christine Holgate during the first Senate inquiry, has returned wearing suffragette white to demonstrate her support for the former Australia Post boss.
LPOs make up about two thirds of Australia Post’s network and are franchised owned. Ms Holgate has been lauded by LPO owners for her Bank@Post deal, which delivered millions of dollars to help their customers with banking services.
Ms Cramp also told the hearing the cost of the four Cartier watches, which Ms Holgate gifted to four executives for securing the lucrative deal, equated to $7.50 per post office.
“We totally reject the notion that it was wasted taxpayer money,” she said.
Ms Cramp said the board was under “direct political instructions” to downgrade community postal services and “bolster” their budget.
“We need to preserve the long-term future of Australia Post for Australians for decades to come,” she said.
She asked the committee to consider recommending an apology from the Prime Minister and the board members and to reinstate Ms Holgate as chief executive.
Asked by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young if there needed to be a “broom put through the board” Ms Cramp replied “absolutely.”
“I would like to see quality people who understand how to run a business sitting there running this business,” she said.
Ms Cramp accused Scott Morrison of a “calculated set up” over the Cartier watches scandal.
She said Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching, whose probing questions at Senate estimates last year led to the revelation of the Cartier watches purchasing, had co-operated with the government.
Ms Cramp said Mr Morrison used Ms Holgate as his “leading lady” to “keep the media happy”.
Adeshola Ore10am:Union calls for board to stand down
The divisional secretary of the union representing postal workers has called for the entire board of Australia Post to be stood down, as he accused its members of carrying out the federal government’s agenda to privatise the postal service.
Divisional Secretary of the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union Greg Rayner appeared at the Senate inquiry into the departure of former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate.
All board members are set to be grilled before the inquiry this afternoon.
Ms Holgate previously told the inquiry that several of the board members had links to the Liberal Party. She said she was forced out of the postal service because she opposed recommendations in a Boston Consulting Group review that she sell off the parcels business.
Mr Rayner said the entire board of Australia Post needed to be stood down so new members could be appointed through an independent process.
“We need to start from scratch so that we can get Australia’s postal network back on track,” he said.
“This inquiry has uncovered seriously problematic decisions in Australia Post and it’s time the board was held to account.”
He said the board needed to be independent so they would not be tasked with carrying out the government’s agenda to privatise the postal service.
“Our concerns of such an agenda have been verified by Ms Holgate’s testimony at the committee and her tabling of sections of the secret BCG report,” he said.
“It is clear that the government and the board of Australia Post intended to engage in so-called efficiencies that would have led to the loss of as many as 8000 jobs along with the closure of up to 230 suburban post offices.”
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