Australia Post parcels sell-off threat ‘not true’

Paul Fletcher rejects suggestions Christine Holgate was forced out because she opposed selling off the parcels business.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has rejected suggestions Christine Holgate was forced out of Australia Post because she opposed recommendations in a Boston Consulting Group review that she sell off the parcels business.

Mr Fletcher’s first public comments since Ms Holgate used a Senate hearing on Tuesday to accuse Scott Morrison of bullying her out of her role as CEO came as The Australian learned she had given the Senate committee conducting the inquiry an assurance she would not com­mence legal action until its report was concluded.

Ms Holgate refused to rule out suing Australia Post and “others” during an interview on the ABC’s 7.30 on Tuesday, but sources close to her but not authorised to speak publicly said on Wednesday she had assured the committee she would put the legal threat on hold.

Mr Fletcher said Ms Holgate had resigned and provided an assurance the government had no intention of splitting up Australia Post or selling off the parcels bus­iness, despite Ms Holgate’s suggestion to the contrary.

He said it was Labor that tried to launch a “political hit job” against Ms Holgate in the first place. “Australia Post is a government business enterprise, 100 per cent owned by the government.

“That will not change,” he told Sky News.

“The parcels business is key to Australia Post. It is growing strongly at the same time as mail volumes, letter volumes, are dropping. Last year, over the period March to December, parcel volumes were 44 per cent higher than the corresponding period in the previous year driven significantly by the pandemic, people staying home, people ordering goods online and those being delivered.”

He strongly rejected any suggestion the parcels business would be sold off and also rejected suggestions Ms Holgate had not resigned, saying she did this on November 2 and emailed the Australia Post board about 10:30 offering her resignation.

“On November 2, she informed the board she was resigning. And she put out a public statement to that effect,” he said. ”She … issued a public statement shortly after 2pm. Let’s be clear. Ms Holgate resigned. That put the board in the position that there was no longer a chief executive.”

He also said neither the government nor the Australia Post board had dismissed Ms Holgate — only that she was “asked to stand aside during the course of an investigation”.

The Senate committee is considering calling Ms Holgate back, and is expected to call board director and former Liberal Party federal director Tony Nutt to pursue questions around his role in allegedly assisting Ms Holgate to draft statements saying she was going on leave when in reality she was being forced to resign.

Reflecting on the composition of the Australia Post board, which includes former Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson and former Liberal National Party president Bruce McIver, committee member and Labor senator Kimberley Kitching said: “There will be so many Liberal witnesses from the board they could have a branch meeting.”

The Prime Minister on Wednesday declined to apologise to Ms Holgate, saying it was not appropriate for taxpayers’ funds in a government-owned company to be used for the handing out of Cartier watches to people who ­“already got paid very well”.

“That was not something I agreed with,” he said. “My language on that day was very strong … And I see that that has caused some very, very strong reactions from Christine. And it hurt her deeply. And that was not my intention. And so I regret that.”

Anthony Albanese said it was Mr Morrison’s comments in parliament that made it untenable for Ms Holgate to continue in her job, arguing that he “effectively sacked Christine Holgate on the floor of parliament during question time.”

“Labor asked questions about taxpayers’ funds in Senate estimates. That is what Senate estimates is for. That is our job. Scott Morrison (is) once again attempting to blame someone else for ­actions for which he, himself, is solely responsible.”