"The people of our country must have leaders that tell the truth to Parliament. They should not bully or intimidate. They should lead by example and respect those who work with them. If they make a mistake, they should simply recognise and apologise, they should not continue to push an agenda that is grossly unjust to avoid their own moment of embarrassment.
I hope the legacy of my recent experience and the telling of this truth is accountability. Misleading
our Parliament and acting unlawfully at any level should surely carry with it serious consequences.
Australia Post, like all our nationally significant organisations, should not be political playthings
where board positions are used as rewards for political services done. From this experience we
must build a stronger, more capable Board and ensure this important asset is protected and
nurtured for many years to come, for the benefit of all Australians."
Full Executive Summary:
"It is almost five months since the events of October 22nd, 2020, when, for no justified reason, I was humiliated in Parliament and then unlawfully stood down by the Australia Post Chair from a role I was passionately committed to.
Throughout this period, I have only made one statement- my reluctant offer to resign- and I have deliberately avoided the opportunity to speak out about what happened. At the time I believed remaining silent was in the best interests of Australia Post and of my own health, which the actions of others and ensuing events had severely compromised.
The experience the Chair of Australia Post and others put me through - which continues - should never be allowed to happen again, not just at Australia Post, but in any organisation, to any person, in any role.
The Chair of Australia Post not only unlawfully stood me down, he lied repeatedly to the Australian people and to their Parliament about his actions. Time after time he has made statements that I had agreed to stand down when I had done no such thing. The evidence in this submission is irrefutable and I urge you to read it in full.
He then abandoned me to a media firestorm that he and others had created and cut me off from resources, despite knowing that these events had caused me to seek mental health care and medication. When I pleaded for help, my pleas were met with continuous requests to examine credit card expense records, on the disguise that they must be made public, presumably to cause me even greater harm. Their actions were and remains, an exercise to seek justification, after the fact, for the failure to treat me fairly.
When I offered to resign to protect our organisation, my letter to him was leaked to the media before he had even responded to me. He then made his own statement which was and remains false and then hours later sent me a counter-offer - itself confirmation that no agreement had been reached. When I asked that afternoon for an opportunity to send a message to all Australia Post employees to thank them for the privilege of working with them, it was denied.
In short, I was treated like a criminal by my own Chairman, but I had committed no crime. To be clear, the purchase of the four watches as a reward for the efforts of executives who delivered the pivotal Bank@Post deal was legal, within Australia Post’s policies, within my own signing authority limits, approved by the previous Chairman, expensed appropriately, signed off by auditors and the CFO, widely celebrated within the organisation, and presented at a morning tea by the previous Chairman and me with a thank you card signed by both of us. It was then found to be legal by the “review” which was clearly intended to find it otherwise.
Yet somehow, I was forced out of my job over it. For this, I blame one person- the Chair, Lucio Di Bartolomeo. He knew all of the facts but chose to stand aside from his responsibility to defend me and Australia Post, from those who didn’t know all of the facts. He then lied about his actions and about other important issues.
The Chair’s counter-offer to my resignation, had I agreed, would have prevented me working for 12 months, I would have received no pay for my separation and it would have prevented me from speaking about any of Australia Post’s actions past, present and future, including those that may be unlawful. To this date, I have signed no deed of release with Australia Post, despite my many requests to resolve this matter.
Having lied to the media and through them the Australian public, the Chair then attended the Senate on November 9th 2020 where his evidence was seriously misleading. I raised my concerns in writing with him and the Board, with both shareholder Ministers, and Maddocks, giving detailed examples and asked them to address it, but they have chosen not to; yet at no time has anyone denied my feedback was correct. It is unacceptable that the Chair of a major public-owned enterprise can mislead the Senate over his knowledge of something as important as a review of the organisation commissioned by the Government. He knows all about the BCG report, despite his lies to the Senate.
He saw drafts of it, he sat in five-hour long meetings about its contents. The Senate must hold him to account or risk setting a precedent that it can be misled by people who are supposed to be serving the community.
The Government’s inquiry by Maddocks found I had acted within my authority. I had acted appropriately and within the authority given to me by the organisation. I was exonerated (just as I should have been) after an inquiry where I was cut off from emails and access to information and told, for any support I need, I must only communicate with Australia Post’s external lawyers. I was instructed that I must not speak to employees or customers of the $7.5 billion, 80,000 employee organisation I had been leading from strength to strength since my appointment. I was deliberately isolated and continue to be, despite the clear findings and evidence that I have done nothing wrong.
The Chair made a statement that he would have ‘vetoed the watches’, unfairly influencing the investigation and failing to explain the true story why the watches were used as rewards or the nationally significant benefit the watches recognised. Every one of the current Board members interviewed said they would not have supported them, yet the same Directors supported purchasing a pen for the previous retiring Chair, as well as multi-million dollar payouts to the previous CEO and not least the gifting of many more expensive rewards by him.
These actions and false claims which have been made seriously
damaged my professional reputation, and contributed to a significant decline in my health.
I was selected to lead Australia Post after an exhaustive international recruitment campaign and came to my position after nine years as Chief Executive at Blackmores. My experience and expertise have been recognised on multiple occasions including being the only female to be awarded CEO of the Year by the CEO Institute, being named the highest-ranking female on the Australian Financial Review’s Power List (and most recently receiving a Scorecard Rating of 95% (where target is 70% and maximum is 100%) from the Australia Post Board.
To suggest I would ignore a fundamental policy or commit a blatant error of judgement, even such as this, is an absolute nonsense and has no credibility when scrutinised objectively.
Under my leadership I have exhibited both the ability to, and the commitment towards, reducing waste and increasing both revenue and profitability and enhancing the culture of every business I have been associated with. The evidence in this submission is compelling on this front. I was paid a fraction of the previous CEO of Australia Post’s remuneration, and I reduced the ‘office’ spending by more than 60% compared to his costs.
All of these terrible examples of behaviour by others were raised with our Shareholder Ministers Birmingham and Fletcher, again as well as Maddocks. Time after time, I reached out and asked for help to resolve things amicably. I have received none.
Australia Post is a critical national asset going through a major transformation. It deserves and requires the very best leadership, not just at the Executive level, but also at the Board. Under my leadership Australia Post actually increased its revenue against all odds and defied the predictions of many Government reviews and we grew our profits, whilst securing jobs for our people and continuing to deliver in the face of COVID, bushfires and storms.
Many families and businesses depend on Australia Post for their economic survival, these include our own employees and our partners. Many of our partners, like our 3,000-plus Community Post Offices and our Delivery Contractors, mortgage their homes and take on significant debt to invest in and be part of the organisation. If the organisation fails, due to arbitrary and poor decisions at the top, as a consequence these partners will fail. This should not be acceptable to those who can influence the course of events.
The people of our country must have leaders that tell the truth to Parliament. They should not bully or intimidate. They should lead by example and respect those who work with them. If they make a mistake, they should simply recognise and apologise, they should not continue to push an agenda that is grossly unjust to avoid their own moment of embarrassment.
I am deeply appreciative of the significant support I have received and continue to from our employees, our customers, our partners – especially our Community Licensed Post Offices, thousands of individuals across the country and from many political leaders representing all parties. Their unwavering commitment to me has carried me through this difficult time and is making me strong again.
I am determined that going forward I will be a stronger leader. I have gained a deep appreciation for what it feels like to be alone when fighting a mighty power for a crime you have not committed. I will try to avoid “failing the pub test”, but I will not avoid the pub nor the people in it- they have a greater instinct for fairness and ability to detect foul play than many “leaders” assume on their behalf.
It was an honour to join Australia Post. I took on the leadership challenge, together with a significant pay cut, because I was passionately committed to supporting its transformation and I believed strongly in the important role it plays in communities and in particular, regional and rural Australia. The recent exceptional financial results evidence that Australia Post is now growing, the transformation is under way and it has a strong viable future ahead. I am proud to have led the team and what we have delivered together.
I remain deeply committed to serving our country and helping our economic recovery. I have remained as Chair of the Australian ASEAN Council and Co-Chair for the Ministerial Advisory Council for Trade.
I hope the legacy of my recent experience and the telling of this truth is accountability. Misleading our Parliament and acting unlawfully at any level should surely carry with it serious consequences. Australia Post, like all our nationally significant organisations, should not be political playthings where board positions are used as rewards for political services done. From this experience we must build a stronger, more capable Board and ensure this important asset is protected and nurtured for many years to come, for the benefit of all Australians.
It is for these reasons I have agreed to break my silence and make a submission to this inquiry today"
