World News – AU – Australia Post CEO resigns after four managers were revealed to have received $ 3,000 in Cartier watches

Scott Morrison is dismayed, and if Christine Holgate doesn’t want to stay away, « she can go »

Australia Post chief Christine Holgate must be sidelined and the board has been put on notice pending an investigation into how the organization has spent 12 000 dollars in Cartier watches as a reward for four senior executives

Scott Morrison set out on Thursday to stem the damage caused by the disclosures at Senate Estimates hearings earlier today, saying he took immediate action because he was « appalled, it is shameful and it is not the case « 

Morrison said Holgate, a former head of vitamin firm Blackmores who joined Australia Post three years ago, was instructed to step down during the investigation « If she doesn’t want to do that, she can leave, » he said

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann subsequently issued a statement saying Holgate would « stay out of his position » as the investigation unfolded during the next four weeks

The Snapshot, to be conducted by Communications and Finance with the assistance of an external law firm, will report back to the firm to make decisions on what to do next

The Prime Minister has indicated that the government is ready to take action against members of the board of directors if the investigation reveals deficiencies in governance

Asked by Labor, Fletcher told parliament he was ‘as shocked and concerned as everyone else’ to learn of the spending

Fletcher said he asked Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo to provide full company support for the investigation

Australia Post bought four Cartier watches in October 2018 as a reward for four senior executives who helped secure a deal to allow more people to do their banking at post offices, according to estimates heard on Thursday

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« There were a small number of senior executives who had put in an excessive amount of work and they received an award from the president [and] myself on behalf of the board, » Holgate said

Holgate said she was not among the recipients, but purchases were arranged through her office During the hearing, Holgate and her CFO were unable to say which credit card company payment has been made

Asked by Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching whether it was appropriate to use taxpayer money to buy Cartier watches from already highly paid Australian Post executives, Holgate insisted he did not ‘was no public money

« We do not receive government funding We are a commercial organization… It was a recommendation from our president that these people be rewarded »

Australia Post is fully owned by the federal government and classified as a state-owned enterprise, similar to NBN Co It paid a dividend of $ 21 million to the government last year, according to its annual report

Holgate named the four watch recipients as Gary Starr, an executive managing director, who participated in Thursday’s estimate hearing

Kitching asked Starr, joining the video link, if he was wearing the watch right now « No, I am not, Senator »

Holgate said the watches were purchased in Melbourne, but that she should take note of whether the benefits tax is declared on gifts

« I guess so, because our finance team is very vigilant about the taxation of benefits, » she said

Labor communications spokesperson Michelle Rowland said the giveaway was unacceptable and called on the government to ‘clean up’ the Australia Post board

« This largesse is a symptom of wider issues at Australia Post and the way management is disconnected from workers, » said Greg Rayner, CEPU National Secretary

« The pressure on postal workers and workers has been enormous, with increasing delivery delays due to the new reduced service model »

Australia Post representatives rejected Labor Party claims that postal services deteriorated following changes after the start of the coronavirus pandemic

The ‘alternate delivery model’ announced in May – which saw postal workers swap their bikes for vans to cope with the increased parcel load and reduced frequency of letter deliveries – a was confronted with the reaction of postal workers

The Australia Post said the changes were made necessary by the changing trends brought about by the pandemic and the need for Covid-safe practices

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also took advantage of the hearing to voice her concerns about bonuses paid last year

Australia Post told the hearing that the total value of incentives granted in the past fiscal year was $ 974m, although that includes $ 21.6m in thank you payments to frontline workers for continuing to provide services during the pandemic

But the board has said it has decided not to pay bonuses to Holgate and the executive managing directors for the year 2019-2020

Holgate, who joined Australia Post in 2017, replaced longtime former boss Ahmed Fahour, who resigned after a dispute with the Turnbull government over his $ 5 6m pay package, and after that which he called « very hurtful » comments about his religion from Pauline Hanson

Holgate received total compensation of $ 1,614,470 from Australia Post in 2020, annual report says She is a member of the board of directors of Collingwood Football Club and co-chair of the Ministerial Advisory Board for Trade

Australia Post, Christine Holgate, Cartier, Managing Director