Christine Holgate’s Cartier watches ‘inconsistent’ with public expectation, investigation finds

The controversial purchase of Cartier watches for four Australia Post executives was out of step with public expectation, an investigation has found.

Former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate at Senate estimates in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

The investigation into the controversial purchase of Cartier watches for four Australia Post executives found the gift was ­“inconsistent” with the public governance act and community expectations, and may have only been one of several instances of such credit card usage.

But the investigation found there was “no indication of dishonesty, fraud, corruption or intentional misuse of Australia Post funds by any individual involved” in the purchase and gifting of the watches. The report was released on Friday after weeks of pressure on the government to make the findings public.

Australia Post’s then-chief executive Christine Holgate stood aside from her role in October after the federal government ­announced the investigation into the purchase of the watches, and said she was quitting the role — and its $1.4m base salary — in early November.

Four Cartier watches, valued at a combined $19,950, were bought in November 2018 and presented to four senior executives in recognition of their work on the Bank@Post deal in which Australia Post partnered with three banks and financial institutions.

Three of those four executives also collected short-term incentive bonuses that year, due in part to their involvement in that deal.

Ms Holgate issued a statement on Friday, noting that the report had cleared her of any misuse of Australia Post funds.

“As I stated when I offered my resignation, I had done nothing wrong in this matter, other than failing the ‘pub test’ for some,” she said. “I wish only the very best for the future of Australia Post and its incredible team.”

But the report identified several governance issues within the organisation, including a structure in which the group’s chief financial officer — a direct report to Ms Holgate — approved the CEO’s expenses.

“An employee in a subordinate role to the CEO appears to have been approving expenditure by the CEO using the CEO’s credit card and expenditure using the Office of the CEO credit card,” the report said.

“The risk is that, as a direct ­report to the CEO, the CFO may not be able to be an effective ‘check and balance’.

‘‘Accordingly, there is a risk that this arrangement is not ‘effective’ or appropriate.”

The purchase of the watches was also inconsistent with the board’s obligations under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, noting there was a lack of an identifiable and applicable policy around such spending.

All the non-executive board members interviewed by the ­investigation accepted that the giving of gifts such as the watches was not appropriate.

The report also found that a ­review of a ‘‘limited’’ set of credit card records had identified other charges ‘‘that, although for lesser amounts than the expenditure on the Cartier watches, may also be inconsistent with public expectations and Australia Post’s policies’’.

It did not provide any further detail on the nature of those charges or to whose credit card the charges related.

The investigation found differing accounts between Ms Holgate and her chairman at the time, John Stanhope, regarding the purchase of the watches.

While both agreed there had been a discussion regarding some form of reward or recognition for the four executives’ efforts, and Mr Stanhope signed the cards presented with the watches, Mr Stanhope said he did not ultimately approve the giving of the watches.

That was disputed by Ms Holgate, who told the investigation the watches were “broadly consistent” with the pair’s discussion of a reward for the executives.

“The former CEO also said that the former chair must have been aware that the watches had been given,” the report said.

The report also detailed the ­series of events leading up to the purchase of the watches.

On or around November 14, 2018, Ms Holgate called an ­employee, asking them to buy the four watches. That call was followed by a text message from Ms Holgate, containing a screenshot of the particular watches she wanted purchased.

The four watches ranged in value from a $3800 timepiece to a $7000 watch in pink gold.

Australia Post has since started planning an internal review of its policies on gifts and benefits, and has changed the approval process for chief executive expenses.