Australia Post delivers massive bonuses to high-earning execs

Australia Post executives earning more than $200,000 a year are earning massive taxpayer-funded bonuses - despite a blowout in postal delivery times.

Australia Post executives earning more than $200,000 a year received an average bonus of $103,939 — more than the average full-time wage.

The largesse at the taxpayer-owned business has raised questions about whether it had learned the lessons of the Cartier watch bonus scandal, which cost former chief executive Christine Holgate her job.

New figures, released in response to written parliamentary questions, have revealed that 325 top executives at Australia Post shared in a pool of $33,780,175.

Of those top earners, more than 93 per cent received bonuses, including every executive earning over $600,000 a year.

Rank and file workers earning less than $100,000 a year were snubbed — only 152 out of 32,755 received a bonus in that pay band.

More than half of those earning between $100,000 a year and $200,000 a year received a bonus.

Former Australia Post boss, Christine Holgate was found to have been treated poorly in the wake of the Cartier watch affair. Picture: John Feder

The generous cash bonuses for the 2020-21 financial year were far more significant than the Cartier watches that Ms Holgate handed out to four senior executives, costing between $3800 and $7000 a piece.

Prime Minister Scott Morrisson called those gifts “disgraceful”, with Ms Holgate, who received a $1 million payout, forced to stand aside in October 2020.

Ms Holgate denied any wrongdoing and demanded an apology from Mr Morrison because a probe into the matter found she had been denied natural justice.

Australia Post defended the latest bonuses, saying they were paid to keep good staff and motivate them to hit their targets.

“Remuneration is regularly benchmarked externally and must be positioned competitively to attract, motivate and retain highly skilled senior managers,” a spokesman said.

Lower paid workers were generally on award rates, which did not include a bonus structure, Australia Post added.

Michelle Rowland, federal Labor’s communications spokeswoman, said Australia Post was out of touch.

“Around this country, many families and young Australians are experiencing serious economic stress, and yet Australia Post are splashing around massive bonuses as though money is going out of style,” she said.

“In no rational planet are the magnitude of these taxpayer-funded executive bonuses justified.”

Labor communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland. Picture: David Swift

The details of the bonuses come after a string of complaints about Australia Post’s delivery times, which blew out during Covid-19 lockdowns across the country during the past two years.

Online sales surged more than 30 per cent as shut-in Australians were unable to visit shopping centres, with retailers complaining of the delays in the system.

Australia Post claimed that delivery times had recently improved, with fewer Covid-19 restrictions allowing the service to operate better.

“Business perceptions of, and trust in delivery services have improved considerably since the peak of Covid-19 restrictions in mid 2020,” a spokesman said.

Originally published as Australia Post delivers massive bonuses to high-earning execs